Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber Note

Text emphasis denoted as _Italic_.

STRAY FEATHERS
FROM A BIRD MAN'S DESK

STRAY
FEATHERS
FROM
A BIRD MAN'S
DESK

By Austin L. Rand

CURATOR OF BIRDS,
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

WITH CARTOONS BY RUTH JOHNSON

DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC., GARDEN CITY, N.Y., 1955

_Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 55-5254_

_Copyright, 1955, by Austin L. Rand_ ©
_All Rights Reserved_
_Printed in the United States_
_At the Country Life Press, Garden City, N.Y._
_First Edition_

CONTENTS

PAGE
Introduction 9
Birds Using Tools 15
Birds as Brigands 19
Birds Bathing 22
How Birds Anoint Their Feathers 25
Traveling Birds' Nests 28
Maladaptation in Birds 31
Feathered Baby Sitters and Co-op Nursery Nests 35
Birds' Nests and Their Soup 38
Walled Wives of Hornbills 42
Buried Eggs and Young 45
The Snowy Owl as a Trade Index 48
Monkey Birds 51
Bird-Made Incubators 54
Cormorant Fishing 57
The Shrike's Larder 60
Bird Flavors 63
How Many Feathers Has a Bird? 66
Last Year's Birds' Nests 69
Symbiosis--Animals Living in Mixed Households 73
Bird Apartment Houses 77
Bird Helpers at Nesting Time 81
A Name for a Boat 84
Weavers and Tailors in the Bird World 88
Social Parasites among Birds 91
Fish Eats Bird! 95
Crows Are Smarter Than "Wise" Owls 98
Tame Wild Birds 101
Birds as Pilferers 104
Hibernation in Birds 108
Snakeskins in Birds' Nests 111
Co-operation by Birds 117
Watchdogs at the Nest 121
Bird Guides to Honey 124
Oxpeckers 127
Wings in Feeding 130
Instrumental Music of Birds 133
Conditioning in Birds 136
Poisonous Birds 140
Kingfishers on the Telephone 143
On Identifying Sea Serpents 147
Conservation over the Telephone 151
Birds Washing Food 154
How Animal Voices Sound to Foreign Ears 157
Sight Identification 160
Green Hunting Jays Turn Blue 164
How Birds Use Cows as Hunting Dogs 167
Early Bird Listing 171
Battle of the Sexes and Its Evolutionary Significance 173
Water in the Desert 177
Bird Graveyards 180
Animal Gardens 183
Dropping Things 186
Learning by Birds 189
Can Birds Count? 192
Courtship Feeding 195
They Turned the Tables 198
Survival of the Unfit 201
Dust and Snow Bathing 204
Decoration in the Home 207
Curiosity in Birds 210
References 213
Index 221