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Nebraska Bird Review (December 1984) 52(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

An Exceptional “Fall” Migration of Shorebirds along the Big Bend Reach of the Platte River … 70

1984 Fall Field Day … 71

Least Tern Eggs in Nests of the Piping Plover … 72

Nesting Common Moorhen in Lancaster County … 74

Cattle Egrets and White-faced Ibises Nesting at Valentine Refuge … 6

Notes … 76

Index of Volume 52 … 78

Index To Volume 52

Nebraska Bird Review

Accipiter sp. 14

Adcock, Dorothy 18, 58

Alexander, George 17

Irene 17

Alfred, Norris 3, 23, 56

Allison, Mary 18

Anderson, RoseAnn 17

Sheridan 17

Ardinger, Bruce 18

Arrowhead (plant) 21

Avocet, American 6, 30, 55(2), 76

. . .

Yellowlegs, Greater 6, 30, 55, 60, 70, 71

Lesser 6, 30, 55, 70, 71

Yellowthroat, Common 11, 33, 40, 41, 50, 64

Zeillemaker, C. Fred 26, 28(6), 29(4), 30(5), 31(3), 32(6), 33, 34(5)

Melly 26

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1984) 52(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

EARLY NESTING WOOD DUCKS. On 7 May 1983 I found a female Wood Duck with newly hatched ducklings at Cedar Island, a property along the Platte River in Sarpy County owned by Metropolitan Utilities District.—Ruth C. Green, Bellevue

GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER NEST. On 20 June 1984 I saw Great Crested Flycatchers nesting in a bluebird box. This was at Beaver Lake, Cass Co.—Ruth C. Green, Bellevue

LAZULI BUNTING. I saw a male Lazuli Bunting by the railroad tracks at the foot of Child’s Hollow in Fontenelle Forest, Sarpy County, on 14 May 1984.—Ray Korpi, Bellevue

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW IN BOX BUTTE …

Nesting Common Moorhen In Lancaster County, William C. Garthright

Nebraska Bird Review

On 6 July 1984, at 6 PM CDT, I saw a Common Moorhen at the Capitol Beach marsh, in Lincoln. It was about 10 yards to the north when I first saw it, and I could see the red facial shield and red bill with yellow tip, the yellow legs, a thin white horizontal line along the side, and prominent white patches along either side of dark undertail coverts. It acted mildly agitated, and swam away from me but stayed in the vicinity.

At 7 the next morning I waded into the pond at that spot. This time I saw …

1984 Fall Field Day

Nebraska Bird Review

The 1984 Fall Field Day was held (officially) from noon to noon, 6/7 October, at the4-H Camp at Halsey National Forest. The weather was not the best—light rain early Saturday morning, only a couple of short showers in the afternoon, and no rain Sunday, both days dull and gray. But the attendance was good—87 were officially registered—but the added manpower could not make up for the lateness in the season and the poor weather—the tally on or near the Forest was only 81. In addition, 4 species (marked N) not recorded in the Forest were seen by a party that …

An Exceptional "Fall" Migration Of Shorebirds Along The Big Bend Reach Of The Platte River, Gary R. Lingle, Thomas E. Labedz

Nebraska Bird Review

The Big Bend reach of the Platte River extends about 80 miles from Overton to Chapman, Nebraska. This area is characterized by braided channels with numerous riverine islands bordered by cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) and willows (Salix spp.) along the high banks. Habitat between the high banks consists of open water, barren sandbars and mudflats, herbaceous islands, shrub islands, and floodplain forest.

Prolonged summer flows during 1983 were among the highest recorded this century; in excess of 20,000 cfs (cubic feet per second). Spring 1984 also consisted of high flows resulting in much scouring and shifting of …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1984) 52(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis only) are $7.00 per year in the United States and $9.00 per year in all other countries payable in advance. Single copies are $2.25 each, postpaid.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Student, $.3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

Book Review: Mammals Of The Northern Great Plains By J. K. Jones, Jr., D. M. Armstrong, R. S. Hoffmann, And C. Jones, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Mammals of the Northern Great Plains is an attractive clothbound book that comes in a colored dust jacket showing a female pronghorn walking in the snow. The book is produced in a double-column format set in a 47½ by 32½ pica typebed (I personally do not like the unjustified right-hand margins on both columns). The book contains 206 figures most of which are set in a single column. Of the 206 figures, 80 are distribution maps, 104 are photographs mostly of living animals, 20 are drawings used to illustrate keys or points made in the text, and two are maps …

Effect Of Castration On Plasma Luteinizing Hormone Concentrations In Prepubertal Boars, R. J. Kittock, J. E. Kinder, R. K. Johnson

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Mean concentrations and the occurrence of pulsatile release of luteinizing hormone (LH) were determined in 14-wk-old crossbred boars (50.5 ± 1.5 kg) after bilateral or unilateral castration at 10 wk of age. Blood was collected at 10-min intervals for 5 h. Then gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH; 40 / μg) was given and sampling was continued at 5-min intervals for 1 h. Compared with intact boars, bilateral castration increased (P<.001) mean LH (982 ± 56 vs 389 ± 56 pg/ml), pulsatile releases of LH (7.0 ± .6 vs 2.0 ± .6 pulses/5 h) and LH pulse amplitude (617 ± 29 vs 360 ± 58 pg/ml). Unilaterally castrated boars did not differ from intact boars in any of the above measures of LH secretion. Testis weight increased more between 10 and 14 wk of age in the unilateral castrates than in the intact boars (432 ± 42 vs 245 ± 34%; P<.05). Thus, compensatory hypertrophy occurred within 4 wk of castration. Plasma testosterone was lower for bilateral castrates than for intact animals (.1 ± .8 vs 3.6 ± .9 ng/ml; P<.05) while unilateral castrates (3.8 -+ 1.0 ng/ml) and intact boars did not differ. Plasma estradiol concentrations in bilateral and unilateral castrates were not different from levels found in intact boars (1.8 ± 1.8, 8.8 ± 2.1 and 6.0 ± 1.8 pg/ml, respectively). While mean LH after GnRH was higher in bilateral and unilateral castrates than in intact boars (2,588 ± 147 and 2,693 ± 164 vs 1,928 ± 147 pg/ml; P<.01), castration did not affect the highest LH level after GnRH, time of highest level, magnitude of LH change or rate of LH response during the first 15 rain after GnRH. The rate of change of LH from 0 min to time of maximum LH of the bilateral castrates tended to be greater than that in intact boars (b=202 vs 94; P<.10). These data indicate that the negative feedback of gonadal steroids affects LH secretion.

Catalog Of The Recent Scandentia And Primates In The Carnegie Museum Of Natural History, Suzanne B. Mclaren, Duane A. Schlitter, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The Section of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, houses six specimens of Recent tree shrews and 611 specimens of Recent primates. The only family in the Order Scandentia is Tupaiidae. Primate families represented are Lemuridae, Lorisidae, Cebidae, Callitrichidae, Cercopithecidae, Pongidae, and Hominidae. For each specimen the following data are recorded: locality; date collected; catalog number; sex; age; nature of specimen; condition of specimen and comments. The latter category gives information on the condition of the skin and skeletal material, and gives information on the availability of the specimen.

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1984) 52(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring 1984 Whooping Crane Records in Nebraska … 46

1983 Nebraska Nesting Survey … 47

1984 (Fifty-ninth) Spring Occurrence Report … 51

Notes … 59

Book Review … 68

“Book Review” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1984) 52(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Birding with a Purpose: Of Raptors, Gabboons, and Other Creatures, Frances Hamerstrom, 130 pp., 6¼ x 9¼, The Iowa State University Press, Ames. Hardcover, $13.95.

These are snippets—interesting, amusing, sometimes amazing—from Mrs. Hamerstrom’s long experience with birds and birders. She devised her own methods of marking individual birds so they could be recognized while flying free; she had to learn about trapping raptors and adapting these traps to different species; she had run-ins with authorities, and was helped by individual law enforcement officers; and she had problems (as so did others) with five high school boys who attached themselves …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1984) 52(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

BURCHARD LAKE. Bill Garthright and Bill and Bonnie Mulder went to Burchard Lake, Pawnee Co. 16 April 1984 and saw the Greater Prairie Chickens on their booming grounds. Jim and Sandra Kovanda were there and reported these birds: 27 May 2 Double-crested Cormorants, 1 Little Blue Heron (immature), 2 Hooded Mergansers, and 1 Forster's Tern; an immature Common Loon 3 and 23 June, and a Loggerhead Shrike 23 June.

WADERS. I found Great Egrets in Holt Co. in mid-June 1984, adult Little Blue Herons at three locations in Boone and Nance counties from April through June, and 10 adult Cattle …

1984 (Fifty-Ninth) Spring Occurrence Report

Nebraska Bird Review

Two hundred ninety-three species (and the possibility that one of the Swan sp. was not a Tundra Swan) are listed in this report, from 13 locations. The comparable figures for 1983 are 288 and 2 possibles from 13 location, 1982 287 from 15 locations, and 1981 298 from 12. The symbols used in the tabulations are: . . .

1983 Nebraska Nesting Survey, Esther V. Bennett

Nebraska Bird Review

Data on the 1983 nesting season in Nebraska were received from 24 observers, reporting on 69 species from 49 counties. Counties in the tabulation are listed in a west to east order, with the northernmost of approximately equal locations given first. Numbers represent Nest Record Cards: N represents nests observed for which no Nest Record Card was submitted; and Y represents young observed. GPC in the following paragraph represents Nebraska State Game and Parks Commission. Fifty-four species were reported on 595 North American Nest Record Cards. The counties, with column numbers on the tabulation shown in parentheses, and the contributors …

Spring 1984 Whooping Crane Records In Nebraska

Nebraska Bird Review

The Pierre, S.D., office of the Fish and Wildlife Service has released their records of sightings of the Wood Buffalo flock of Whooping Cranes, and those that pertain to Nebraska are given below.

There are three classes of sightings:

Confirmed Sightings. Observation made by a State or Federal Biologist or officer or by other known qualified observer (trained ornithologist or birder with experience in identification of Whooping Cranes). A photograph may also be used to confirm sightings.

Probable Sighting. No confirmation made by State or Federal Biologist or officer or by other known qualified observer, yet details of the sighting …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1984) 52(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis only) are $7.00 per year in the United States and $9.00 per year in all other countries payable in advance. Single copies are $2.25 each, postpaid.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Student, $.3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

Review Of Mammals Of The Northern Great Plains By J. Knox Jones, Jr., David M. Armstrong, Robert S. Hoffmann, And Clyde Jones. University Of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1983, 379 Pages., Alan B. Sargeant

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

This book is a welcome addition to the general references available on the mammalian fauna of the Northern Great Plains, a region encompassing North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. No similar book about the mammals of these states has been published since Vernon Bailey's 1926 (not 1927 as shown on pages 2 and 361) publication of the mammals of North Dakota.

Mammals ofthe Northern Great Plains is a handsome 18.5 x 26 cm book printed on high-quality glossy paper and illustrated with 206 black-and-white photos and drawings. Although the text is easy to read and intended for a varied audience, …

Results Of The Alcoa Foundation-Suriname Expeditions. Ix. Bats Of The Genus Tonatia (Mammalia: Chiroptera) In Suriname, Hugh H. Genoways, Stephen L. Williams

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Five species of Tonatia (bidens, brasilense, carrikeri, schulzi, and silvicola) are known to occur in Suriname. Tonatia bidens and silvicola are the largest in overall size (forearm length over 50 mm and greatest length of skull over 27.0 mm). However, T. bidens has a broader postorbital region (5.0 mm or more) and narrower mastoid region (less than 13.0 mm). The lower incisors of T. bidens are also noticeably broader than those of T. silvicola. These two species were found throughout most of the forested areas of Suriname. T. bidens displayed no secondary sexual …

Sow Productivity Comparisons For Four Breeds Of Swine: Purebred And Crossbred Litters, H. R. Gaugler, D. S. Buchanan, R. L. Hintz, R. K. Johnson

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Data were collected from 366 litters produced in a four-breed (Duroc, Yorkshire, Spotted and Landrace) diallel mating system. Purebred and crossbred litters were farrowed during five consecutive (fall and spring) farrowing seasons (fall 1976 through fall 1978). Litters were produced by randomly mating boars of each breed to at least one female of each breed. Litter size and weight at birth, litter size and weight at 42 d and pig survival to 42 d were analyzed. There were significant parity effects for all traits except survival rate, and significant year and season effects for litter size at birth and 42 …

Animal Science Newsletter, Summer 1984

Department of Animal Science: Departmental News

Contents:

Animal Science Complex Receives Legislative Funding
Coming Events
Raun Receives Honorary Doctor of Science Award
Ya’ll Come to the Beef Barn Ball
Burson to Join Animal Science Staff
Dr. Charles Adams Retires
Fritschen Becomes Director of Panhandle Station
Doane Receives GSD Teaching Award
UNL Block and Bridle Club Wins National Recognition
Leo Masek Receives Outstanding IANR Employee Award
Vincent H. Arthaud Memorial Fund
Warren Receives Teaching Award
Bevans is 1984 Block and Bridle Honoree
Dickerson Receives Superior Service Award from USDA

Alcataenia Pygmaeus Sp. N. (Cestoda: Dilepididae) From The Whiskered Auklet, Aethia Pygmaea, In The Western Aleutian Islands, Alaska, With A Comment On The Genera Alcataenia And Rissotaenia, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Alcataenia pygmaeus sp. n. is described from whiskered auklets, Aethia pygmaea (Gmelin), from the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska. It is distinguished from its congeners by the overall small size of the strobila and a combination of other characters. The rostellum is armed with 34-38 hooks that measure 41-49 µm in length. The cirrus sac is relatively short, 101-174 µm in length, and reaches or just crosses the poral osmoregulatory canals. There are 36-50 testes located entirely posterior to the female organs. The scolex is deeply embedded in the mucosal tissue of the duodenum of the host. This is the first …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Birds of Lake McConaughy and the North Platte River Valley, Oshkosh to Keystone … 26

Some 1983 Summer Birds of the Missouri National Recreation River, Nebraska … 36

The Eighty-third Annual Meeting … 41

Lesser Goldfinch Recorded in Nebraska … 42

Notes … 42

Book Review … 44

“Book Review” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

How Birds Work: A Guide to Bird Biology, Ron Freethy, 232 pp., 6 x 9¼, Blandford Press, England, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, bibliography, indexed, hardbound $19.95, paperback $8.95.

“How Birds Work is a straightforward introduction to the science of ornithology and provides basic information enabling the amateur birdwatcher to understand his ‘quarry’ more easily. As a direct result of reading this book, the behavior of birds will be more readily understood, and in particular the complexities of migration.” Which is a fair summary of the book, although it may over-stress migration. The chapter headings are The …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

DIPPER. In late September or early October 1982 I saw a Dipper on wood stacked in my yard, near the business center of Stanton.—Bruce P. Jundt, Stanton

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD. On 17 September 1983 I saw a Mockingbird in the shelter belt on our farm.—Mike Erickson, Wayne

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. On 8 October 1983 I saw a female Black-throated Blue Warbler in our shelter belt.—Mike Erickson, Wayne

WORM-EATING WARBLER. On 26 April 1984 Layne Johnson, John Chase, Paul Pearson, and I saw a Worm-eating Warbler in the shelter belt on our farm 8 miles north and 1 mile west of Wayne.—Mike …

Lesser Goldfinch Recorded In Nebraska, Phil Swanson

Nebraska Bird Review

I photographed this Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) at Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Area (north of Harrison, Nebraska) about 9:00 a.m. on 20 May 1984. The bird was in the campground area with American Goldfinches. I watched the Lesser Goldfinch with binoculars for a few minutes before I took the photograph and easily noted the field marks. The bird was the black-backed variety (C. p. psaltria).

The Eighty-Third Annual Meeting

Nebraska Bird Review

Almost perfect weather greeted the 59 who registered for the eighty-third Annual Meeting, held at Camp Norwesca, near Chadron State Park, 19 and 20 May 1984. There was a slide show (including a bird identification quiz) Friday night. Saturday there were bird trips to Sowbelly Canyon and Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Area, north of Crawford, and on over to the Wyoming border; to Soldiers Creek, near Fort Robinson; to Beaver Valley, north of Hay Springs; and a shorter, morning only, visit to the Jeanne Dueker home, south of Chadron. At the paper session and Annual Meeting, Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Joyce Brashear read …

Birds Of Lake Mcconaughy And The North Platte River Valley, Oshkosh To Keystone, Richard C. Rasche, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

Cedar Point Biological Station was established in 1975 at a site approximately one mile below Kingsley Dam in Keith County, Nebraska. Since that time, summer ornithology classes have been periodically offered beginning in 1977 when it was taught by Dr. Stephen Fretwell. A variety of ornithologists have kept records of the summer birds of the area. Beginning in 1970, when he first visited the area, the senior author has accumulated a large amount of data covering all seasons of the year, which form the primary basis for the seasonal information in this paper. In addition, much information was contributed by …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis only) are $7.00 per year in the United States and $9.00 per year in all other countries payable in advance. Single copies are $2.25 each, postpaid.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Student, $3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

Functional Cranial Analysis Of Large Animalivorous Bats (Microchiroptera), Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Large animalivorous bats include carnivorous, piscivorous and insectivorous microchiropterans. Skull proportions and tooth morphology are examined and interpreted functionally. Four wide-faced bats from four families are convergent in having wide skulls, large masseter muscle volumes and stout jaws, indicating a powerful bite. Three of the four also have long canine teeth relative to their maxillary toothrows. Carnivorous bats have more elongate skulls, larger brain volumes and larger pinnae. The wide-faced bats are all oral emitters and have heads positively tilted relative to the basicranial axis. The carnivorous species are nasal-emitting bats and have negatively tilted heads. The orientation of the …