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Cyanerpes, Nov. 30, 1957, V. 14

The G was most often done by the ♀ during disputes with the ♂ Rio Gordo Just a simple opening of the bill, sometimes quite wide, but usually not extreme. Usually given with head drawn up and perhaps pulled back a little. The ♀ sometimes did this where she showed a slight tendency to retreat (alternating it with Wh Notes when she showed a slight tendency to advance), so it probably doesn't contain a very strong aggressive component. It certainly seems to be relatively little ritualized. I only saw the ♂ do the same thing once, very briefly.
   The Wh Complex performance may vary greatly in elaboration. Usually done by the ♂, whenever the ♀ approached him closely (and once or twice apparently directed at the ♀ when she was a little farther ―almost a foot― away). At its lowest intensity it seems to consist of one, two, or three soft, husky "Wheeoo wheeoo..." notes uttered from an unritualized posture, with a slight tendency to point the head and bill upward. At higher intensities this pointing becomes more extreme (a real St being achieved), the breast & belly feathers are fluffed more and more conspicuously, the wings are lowered more & more; and, finally, at highest intensities, the wings are also fluttered and the tail may be somewhat raised. (The above description is somewhat misleading, as I never saw a case of slowly rising intensity. All the Wh Complex performances I saw were very brief. The ♂ just suddenly went into the performance at a particular intensity level and then quickly stopped again. Once or twice