Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 15:01:07 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Maurice Barnhill Subject: Re: Re Scaup ID MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Fred Pierce wrote: > > and what about the hat? > ... > > "dw.holmes" wrote: > > > > Posted on OBOL (Oregon Birders On Line) today by Mike Denny > > Lesser----This species was recently found to be a cavity nester > > and the notable process on the posterior surface of the skull was > > discovered to allow the bird to place its head into the nest > > chamber and push up while turning its eggs with the right foot, > > thus it can retain its balance while perched on the lip of the > > cavity. ... > > > Well that is it for now. Just thought you might want to know > > this on this first day of April." The hat is worn inside the cavity to stop wood chips from falling on the top of the bird's head. It is left on a hook just outside the cavity when the adult is outside. Its pressure on the head when the bird is inside the cavity is responsible for the head shape, which just incidentally is useful in turning the eggs. -- Maurice Barnhill mvb@udel.edu [not bellatlantic.net] Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Delaware Newark, DE 19716 ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================