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(17)

[[underlined]] Diglossa [[/underlined]], May 20, 1960, II

[[pink marking]]
of the songs of [[underlined]] lafresnayei [[/underlined]] [[male symbol]]'s, but still quite easily distinguishable.  A moderately long formless twitter, [[underlined]] not [[/underlined]] including distinct doublets.  Some of the songs seem to be an absolutely uniform twitter, but David thought that others might be represented by the following diagram

[[image:  drawing depicting cadence of notes]]

With a distinctly accented note in the middle!
(It is possible that the songs with such accented notes are really composed of two essentially identical phrases.)  I must add, however, that none of the songs, to my ears, had as distinctly accented note as indicated in the above diagram.

Most of the songs we heard were uttered by solitary [[male symbol]]'s, obviously unmated or separated from their mates such [[male symbol]]'s would pick out a relatively high perch and then sing and sing and sing.  The long repetitions of song were rather reminiscent of the singing behaviour of Bananaquits.

All their songs were given from quite unritualized postures.  A singing [[male symbol]] would just sit still, in a more or less diagonal-erect sitting posture Crown possibly slightly ruffled.  Breast and belly feathers definitely not ruffled.  Wings meeting above rump.  Once I saw a [[male symbol]] sing with slightly fluffed back feathers - but this was probably purely "coincidental", as the same [[male symbol]] later sang many more songs without any trace of fluffing of the back feathers.  The bill opened & partly closed with each note of the song.  (This revealed the [[?]] bright pink inside the mouth - quite conspicuously).

Many of their songs must have been produced by some frustration of pairing and/or sexual drives, but we never saw a [[female symbol]] come
[[/pink marking]]