Green Feathers Research Articles

Влияние обработок препаратами фунгицидного действия на развитие и урожайность зеленой массы лука в условиях защищенного грунта

The paper presents the results of scientific research on the study of the peculiarities of growing onions on a feather in the conditions of the Kostroma region. The results obtained may be relevant for use in personal-subsidiary and individual farms of the Kostroma region, to provide the population with affordable and high-quality vegetable products in winter. It was found that the largest mass of green feather from the bulb was noted in the variant using potassium permanganate and amounted to 184.2 g, which exceeded the control variant by 12.5%, and in the variant using the biofungicide "Garden Recipes" by 9.5%. The yield of green onion feathers according to the experimental variants was 5.24...5.89 kg/m2, no significant differences between the experimental variants were revealed. Keywords: ONION, GREEN MASS, YIELD, BIOFUNGICIDE

FIRST RECORD OF A CYANISTIC (BLUE) PLUMAGE ABNORMALITY IN ORANGE-FRONTED PARAKEETS EUPSITTULA CANICULARIS IN MEXICO

Pigmentary coloration in bird plumage involves several pigment types. In addition, Psittacidae species (parrots and allied) synthetize their own yellow pigment, psittacin (psittacofulvin), which is normally present in green feathers. The inability to synthetize psittacine, due to a gene mutation, results in a cyanistic —or blue— plumage phenotype. We present the first record of a cyanistic (blue) abnormality in the plumage of the Orange-fronted Parakeet Eupsittula canicularis in Mexico. Two young blue parakeets were removed from their nest in 2023 and kept as pets. Both birds lacked the typical green coloration and displayed extensive blue plumage on the entire body. The frequency of psittacin mutations in wild Psittacidae populations is unknown, but the alleles involved must be quite rare. Further studies are needed to understand the biology and ecology of the species in relation to possible population declines that could potentially increase the homozygous frequency for the recessive blue allele.

Green Feather Books

Green Feather Books

Magia niepozornych rzeczy w twórczości Justyny Bednarek

Małgorzata Ewa Chrobak’s aim in this article is to read Justyna Bednarek’s books for children from the perspective of “thing studies.” Chrobak investigates how everyday objects and their re-use are represented in a selection of those books, e.g., Nowe przygody skarpetek (jeszcze bardziej niesamowite) [The Socks’ New Adventures (More Amazing Than Ever)]; Banda Czarnej Frotté [The Band of the Black Frotté]; Skarpetki powracają! [The Socks Are Back!]; Zielone piórko Zbigniewa [Zbigniew’s Green Feather]; Skarpetki kontratakują! [The Socks Strike Back!]. Chrobak examines the possibilities of applying two interpretive categories to Bednarek’s fiction, those of “biography of things” and “cultural recycling.”

From the President andIFSTNews

From the President and<scp>IFST</scp>News

Putting the Squeeze on Phase Separation.

Phase separation is a ubiquitous process and finds applications in a variety of biological, organic, and inorganic systems. Nature has evolved the ability to control phase separation to both regulate cellular processes and make composite materials with outstanding mechanical and optical properties. Striking examples of the latter are the vibrant blue and green feathers of many bird species, which are thought to result from an exquisite control of the size and spatial correlations of their phase-separated microstructures. By contrast, it is much harder for material scientists to arrest and control phase separation in synthetic materials with such a high level of precision at these length scales. In this Perspective, we briefly review some established methods to control liquid–liquid phase separation processes and then highlight the emergence of a promising arrest method based on phase separation in an elastic polymer network. Finally, we discuss upcoming challenges and opportunities for fabricating microstructured materials via mechanically controlled phase separation.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Genes Associated With Sexual Dichromatism of Head Feather Color in Mallard.

Sexual dimorphism of feather color is typical in mallards, in which drakes exhibit green head feathers, while females show dull head feather color. We showed that more melanosomes deposited in the males’ head’s feather barbules than females and further form a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice, which conferred the green feather coloration of drakes. Additionally, transcriptome analysis revealed that some essential melanin biosynthesis genes were highly expressed in feather follicles during the development of green feathers, contributing to melanin deposition. We further identified 18 candidate differentially expressed genes, which may affect the sharp color differences between the males’ head feathers, back feathers, and the females’ head feathers. TYR and TYRP1 genes are associated with melanin biosynthesis directly. Their expressions in the males’ head feather follicles were significantly higher than those in the back feather follicles and females’ head feather follicles. Most clearly, the expression of TYRP1 was 256 and 32 times higher in the head follicles of males than in those of the female head and the male back, respectively. Hence, TYR and TYRP1 are probably the most critical candidate genes in DEGs. They may affect the sexual dimorphism of head feather color by cis-regulation of some transcription factors and the Z-chromosome dosage effect.

Cortex Thickness Is Key for the Colors of Iridescent Starling Feather Barbules With a Single, Organized Melanosome Layer

The iridescent plumage of many birds is structurally colored due to an orderly arrangement of melanosomes in their feather barbules. Here, we investigated the blue- to purple-colored feathers of the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the blue and green feathers of the Cape starling (Lamprotornis nitens). In both cases, the barbules contain essentially a single layer of melanosomes, but in S. vulgaris they are solid and rod-shaped, and in L. nitens they are hollow and rod- as well as platelet-shaped. We analyzed the coloration of the feathers by applying imaging scatterometry, bifurcated-probe- and micro-spectrophotometry. The reflectance spectra of the feathers of the European starling showed multiple peaks and a distinct, single peak for the Cape starling feathers. Assuming that the barbules of the two starling species contain a simple multilayer, consisting locally only of a cortex plus a single layer of melanosomes, we interpret the experimental data by applying effective-medium-multilayer modeling. The optical modeling provides quantitative insight into the function of the keratin cortex thickness, being the principal factor to determine the peak wavelength of the reflectance bands; the melanosome layer only plays a minor role. The air cavity in the hollow melanosomes of the Cape starling creates a strongly enhanced refractive index contrast, thus very effectively causing a high reflectance.

Ефективність вирощування овочевих рослин в ущільнених посівах

Goal. To determine optimal technological parameters for growing vegetable plants in interplanting companion crops. Methods. Field (observation of plant growth and development), measuring and weighing (yield determination), laboratory and chemical (assessment of fruit quality indicators), statistical (determination of the reliability of experimental data), calculation and comparison (determination of economic efficiency). Results. The yield of vegetable marrow at interplanting with sugar corn and beets was 33.4–33.8 t / ha, which is less than in the control by 5.3–6.5%. Yields of additional products of table beet ripeness at different densities were 10.5–11.4 t/ha, sugar corn — 2.3–2.8 t/ha. The total profit at interplanting of vegetable marrow increased by 20.9–22.4 and 10.5–11.7 thousand UAH respectively for control. Tomato yields at interplanting with shallots and sweet corn decreased by 2.3 and 2.9 t/ha (5.5 and 6.9%), respectively, compared with the control. At interplanting with shallots and sweet corn, the additional profit was 49.9–55.0 and 3.7–5.7 thousand UAH/ha, respectively. The highest net profit — 158.5–163.6 thousand UAH with a level of profitability of 190.7–195.5% was fixed at interplanting tomatoes with shallots on a green feather. Conclusions. Growing vegetable marrow and tomatoes at interplanting led to a slight shortage of their crop relative to crops without interplanting. Combined cultivation of basic and compacting plants contributed to a larger total yield per unit of sown area, net profit, and level of profitability due to compacting plants.

The effectiveness of compatible agrophytocenoses depending on the allelopathic interaction of plants

The main criteria for the functioning of agronomic phytocoenosis are indicators of their economic and energy efficiency. In particular, the issues of manufacturability and rational use of sown areas during the growing season characterize the level of agronomic culture in a particular geographical area. Under these conditions, it is important to study the possibility of joint cultivation of agricultural plants, which will reduce energy consumption, improve the phytosanitary condition of crops and increase the profitability of agricultural production. When growing tomatoes in compatible crops, it is necessary to take into account not only aspects of technology, but also the interaction of plants with each other at the level of physiological and biochemical processes. That is why allelopathic relationship between plants, due to the physiologically active substances they secrete at the initial stage of ontogenesis, is not without the interest. It is the scientific basis for the development of sound crop rotation and mixed (compacted) crops, and also helps to increase the productivity of agro- and natural coenoses in order to prevent soil fatigue in monoculture, control weeds, pests, phytopathogenic organisms, etc. Allelopathic substances (collins) of some plant species cause different reactions to other species: some of them have active growth, others have suppressed growth processes, and still others remain neutral to such effects. The stimulating effect is manifested in the awakening of seeds, strengthening of growth processes and the formation of seedling organs. In future this fact will lead to the activation of plant development and an increase in their productivity. At the same time, mutual oppression of plants cannot be ruled out, which can be detected during laboratory studies using biological tests. Field studies of compatible (compacted) crops of tomato with other plants (sugar corn, shallots) were performed using allelopathic testing methods according to Grodzinsky. The expediency and economic efficiency of growing tomatoes in compatible crops with shallots on a green feather have been experimentally proved using statistical methods.

Progress and challenges of next generation green supersonic civil aircraft

After decades of development, the design technology of high subsonic civil aircraft has been quite mature in terms of safety, economy, comfort and environmental friendly. But for trans-continental and trans-oceanic travel, the flight time up to more than ten hours is still too long, and it becomes the bottleneck in the comfort and rapidity of long-distance travel experience. In contrast, the design technology for supersonic civil aircraft (at least twice speed as fast as that of subsonic one) has been greatly improved, which can greatly shorten the duration in the air. Concorde, the 1st generation supersonic civil aircraft, putting into commercial operation in January 1976, was one of the greatest technological innovations of mankind at that time. But its weaknesses of high fuel consumption, unbearable noise level and pollution problem have seriously weakened the market competitiveness and finally led to the end of commercial operations. There were setbacks, but the technology development never stopped. Compared with that in the 1960s and 1970s, the theory level and practical level of aviation technology have been greatly improved with the help of achievements in fundamental science and technology area. The various technical bottlenecks that hindered the development of supersonic civil aircraft have been continuously alleviated or eliminated, and the technical conditions for the development of green supersonic civil aircraft have become increasingly mature. Since the 1990s, supersonic civil aircrafts have attracted great attention again and gradually become one of the research hotspots. The current concerns about the next generation supersonic civil aircraft cover a wide range, not only the normal demand of low resistance and low fuel consumption, but also some environmentally friendly features. The strength of sonic boom should be reduced to an acceptable level, and continue meet both the increasing noise standards around the airport community and low engine emission requirements. In China, on one hand, we started late but have made great progress in the research of supersonic civil aircraft, such as the fields of aerodynamic configuration, sonic boom prediction and its suppression technology, and supersonic drag reduction technology. And a wide range of independent tools for supersonic civil aircraft concept design, near-field/far-field sonic boom prediction, and multi- design-point/multi-objective aerodynamic configuration optimization design were developed. On the other hand, the supersonic commercial engine technology is still in a blank state, which is a key issue that restricts the development of China’s green supersonic civil aircraft. Compared with the current development level of supersonic civil aircraft design technology worldwide, there are still significant challenges to achieve supersonic flight with economically affordability and green feathers. But it is foreseeable that the next generation green supersonic civil aircraft could be expected before the end of the third decade of this century.

YIELD AND QUALITY OF Allium oschaninii O. Fedtsch. AND Allium pskemense B. Fedtsch. WHEN GROWING IN THE CENTRAL REGION

In the course of research, experiments were conducted to study and describe the biological and economic features of Allium oschaninii O. Fedtsch. and Allium pskemense B. Fedtsch. in the Moscow region. The object of the research was samples of various ecological and geographical origin, obtained from various scientific institutions in Russia and other countries. The landing scheme was 70x30 cm. The area of the registered plot was 5 m2. Repeatability 4 times. Samples of Allium oschaninii O. Fedtsch. II years of life provided an average yield of green feathers at a level (2.85-3.86 kg/m2), and Allium pskemense B. Fedtsch. (2.593.20 kg/m2). Maximum yields were provided by samples No. 3 and No. 6 of Allium oschaninii O. Fedtsch. and samples No.3 and No.5 of Allium pskemense B. Fedtsch.. Correlation analysis showed that high productivity of the green feather is formed, first of all, due to the number of false stems (r = 0.909). Significant influence is exerted by such features as the number of leaves (r = 0.633), leaf length (r = 0.630), and the length of the false stem (r = 0.604). The nutritional value of Allium oschaninii O. Fedtsch. and Allium pskemense B. Fedtsch. is due to the presence of ascorbic acid (19.2-32.6 mg%), carotene (14.9-26.1 mg%) and biologically active substances, including flavonoids (251-325 mg% ), hydroxycinnamic acids, (155-194 mg%). The content of dry substances in the samples of the two onions studied was 10.3-12.7%, sugars 2.8-4.2%. The nitrate content did not exceed 170 mg%.

WINTER HARDINESS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GENUS Allium L. IN THE MOSCOW REGION, DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF THE WINTER PERIOD

In the Moscow region, for a long-term species of bows in winter, a complex of limiting factors determines their winter hardiness. To characterize the period from November to March 2014-2017. The winter severity index (Woz) was calculated on a scale from 0 to 10 points (0 very soft, 10 very severe). The severity of winter in 2014-2015 was 2.91 points, 20152016 3.14 points, 2016-2017 4.75 points. The average percentage of overwintered plants for each sample was determined by the ratio of the number of living plants to the number of dead. Many varieties of welch onion were not sufficiently winter-hardy, including Red, Snowdrop, Russian size, Handsome, April, Russian winter. Stable high 100% winter hardiness showed a variety of welch onion Green feathers. From the studied 71 species and 194 samples of bows of perennial different ecological and geographical origin under the conditions of the Moscow region in the subgenus Amerallium plants A. neapolitanum Cirillo (Molium section) and A. ursinum L. (section Arctoprasum), and also in the subgenus Nectaroscordum A. bulgaricum plants (Janka) Prodбn (section Nectaroscordum (Lindl.) Gren. &amp; Godr.) in the winter of 2014-2015 died completely. Winter in 2016-2017 years in the subgenus Rhizirideum, section Rhizirideum G. Don ex Koch A. senescens L. plants overwintered 75%, A. nutans L. – 90-95% depending on the sample, A. stellarianum Willd. 15 %. In subgenus Melanocrommyum, section Melanocrommyum Webb &amp; Berthel. s.s. plants A. cyrillii Ten. overwintered 75%. In the subgenus Butomissa, sections Butomissa (Salisb.) Kamelin plants Allium odorum L. overwintered 86-93% depending on the sample. In the subgenus Cepa, the section Schoenoprasum Dum. plants A. ledebourianum Schult. &amp; Schult. f. overwintered 75%. The remaining species overwintered 100%.

Mechanism of carotenoid coloration in the brightly colored plumages of broadbills (Eurylaimidae)

The plumage carotenoids of six species from five genera of broadbills (Eurylaimidae) have been examined. These plumages are crimson, violet, purple-maroon, or yellow. Two genera also have brilliant green plumages that are produced by a combination of structural coloration and unknown carotenoids. Six different carotenoids from nine different plumage patches were identified, including two previously unknown molecules, using high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and MS/MS fragment analysis. The yellow pigment in Eurylaimus javanicus and Eurylaimus ochromalus is identified as the novel carotenoid, 7,8-dihydro-3'-dehydro-lutein. The yellow and green plumages of Psarisomus dalhousiae contain the unmodified dietary carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. The brilliant green feathers of Calyptomena viridis contain a mixture of lutein and two other xanthophylls that have previously been found only in woodpeckers (Picinae). The crimson and violet colors of Cymbirhynchus, Sarcophanops, and Eurylaimus are produced by a novel pigment, which is identified as 2,3-didehydro-papilioerythrinone. The molecular structure of this carotenoid was confirmed using (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance, correlated two-dimensional spectroscopy, and two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy. Resonance Raman (rR) spectroscopy carried out at room and low temperatures was used to probe the configuration and conformation of 2,3-didehydro-papilioerythrinone in situ within crimson C. macrorhynchos and purple-red E. javanicus feathers. The rR spectra reveal that the pigment is in an all-trans configuration and appears to be relatively planar in the feathers. The likely metabolic pathways for the production of broadbill carotenoids from dietary precursors are discussed.

Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl (after Rembrandt), and: Still Life after Antonio de Pereda’s The Knight’s Dream , and: Still Life after Juan Sánchez Cotán’s Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber , and: Still Life after Pieter Claesz’s Vanitas with Violin and Glass Ball , and: The Last Still Life, after Peter Paul Rubens’s The Head of

Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl (after Rembrandt), and: Still Life after Antonio de Pereda’s The Knight’s Dream, and: Still Life after Juan Sánchez Cotán’s Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, and: Still Life after Pieter Claesz’s Vanitas with Violin and Glass Ball, and: The Last Still Life, after Peter Paul Rubens’s The Head of Medusa Diane Seuss (bio) Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl (after Rembrandt) She comes out of the dark seeking pie, but instead finds two dead peacocks.One is strung up by its feet. The other lies on its side in a poolof its own blood. The girl is burdened with curly bangs. A too-small cap.She wanted pie, not these beautiful birds. Not a small, dusky applefrom a basket of dusky apples. Reach in. Choose a dusky apple.She sleepwalked to this window, her body led by its hunger for pie.Instead this dead beauty, gratuitous. Scalloped green feathers. Gold breast.Iridescent-eyed plumage, supine on the table. Two gaudy crowns.She rests her elbows on the stone windowsill. Why not pluck a feather?Why lean against the gold house of the rich and stare at the bird’s dead eye?The girl must pull the heavy bird into the night and run off with it.Build a fire on the riverbank. Tear away the beautiful feathers.Suck scorched tough dark meat off of hollow bones. Look at her, ready to reach.She’d hoped for pie. Meringue beaded gold. Art, useless as tits on a boar. [End Page 11] Still Life after Antonio de Pereda’s The Knight’s Dream You dream, like we do, of cash. Cash and clocks and beads. Like us, of masks. Skullsand masks and treasure and guns. You dream of the curved world. Of ruling it.Like us, do you wake to an unruly field? Do you stroke, from insideyour trailer, the thoraxes of June bugs pressed against the window screen?Do you do with your old sadness what the thunderhead does with its rain?Knight, there’s plenty to be sad about. What if you’re not really a knight?What if you’re only a knight in your dream? You wake to no glitteringwaistcoat and breeches, no black velvet hat, just a shirt and ill-fittingpants, tight in the crotch or loose in the crotch, from the church donation room.Nothing to defend but a couple of acres of blighted field corn.No one feels sorry for you. Too much like feeling sorry for ourselves.Not even that angel you dreamed up, a long-haired boy with barn-owlwings whose missive is, he hallucinated you. You are his feverdream. The clock’s dream, coin’s dream. The skull gnaws on the bad idea of you. [End Page 12] Still Life after Juan Sánchez Cotán’s Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber Anything can be a marionette. A quince, a cabbage, a melon, a cucumber,suspended against a black background, illumined by a curiouswhite light. In this little show, the quince plays a full gold moon. The cabbageis the antagonist, curled outer leaves fingering the charcoal void.Cucumber’s the peasant, nubby belly to the ground like a frog.That leaves melon, center stage, rough wedge hacked out of her buttery side.Each object holds its space, drawing the eye from quince to cabbage, melonto cucumber, in a left-to-right downward-sloping curve. Four bodieshang in the box of darkness like planets, each in its private orbit.It’s a quiet drama about nothing at all. No touch, no brushingup against each other, no oxygen, no rot, so that each shape, eachcharacter, is pure, clean in its loyalty to its own fierce standard.Even the wounded melon exudes serenity. Somewhere, juice runsdown a hairy chin, but that is well beyond the border of the box. [End Page 13] Still Life after Pieter Claesz’s Vanitas with Violin and Glass Ball Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas. Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:8 We’re cleaning out the houses of the dead...

Color Production in Blue and Green Feather Barbs of the Rosy-faced Lovebird

We study experimentally and theoretically the coloration mechanisms of blue and green feather barbs in the rosy-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis). Structural characterizations reveal that both the blue and green barbs contain a similar rod-connected amorphous diamond-structured photonic crystal (RAD-PC), producing basically a non-iridescent blue structural color. Numerical simulations show that the existence of a photonic pseudogap in the photonic density of states of the RAD-PC is the physical origin of the non-iridescent blue coloration. The green color in the green barbs is a mixed color coming from the blue structural color in the RAD-PC and the yellow color in the cortex layer that contains a yellow pigment. The optical function of the yellow pigment for achieving a saturated green color is discussed. The interesting coloration mechanisms unraveled may help us get in-depth understandings of the ingenious strategies of color production in nature and valuable inspirations as well.

Colourful parrot feathers resist bacterial degradation

The brilliant red, orange and yellow colours of parrot feathers are the product of psittacofulvins, which are synthetic pigments known only from parrots. Recent evidence suggests that some pigments in bird feathers function not just as colour generators, but also preserve plumage integrity by increasing the resistance of feather keratin to bacterial degradation. We exposed a variety of colourful parrot feathers to feather-degrading Bacillus licheniformis and found that feathers with red psittacofulvins degraded at about the same rate as those with melanin and more slowly than white feathers, which lack pigments. Blue feathers, in which colour is based on the microstructural arrangement of keratin, air and melanin granules, and green feathers, which combine structural blue with yellow psittacofulvins, degraded at a rate similar to that of red and black feathers. These differences in resistance to bacterial degradation of differently coloured feathers suggest that colour patterns within the Psittaciformes may have evolved to resist bacterial degradation, in addition to their role in communication and camouflage.

Eye to Eye

Eye to Eye Kirsten Whatley (bio) I duck into the tepee and squeeze among figures crouched together on the dirt floor. The tepee isn't finished yet. Slats of thin sunlight steal through the open bark, an odd pallor washing the young faces beside me. Most are boys in their late teens, novice hunters who've been chasing down the small animals and rodents that live in the underbrush nearby. This is day seven of Wilderness Survival Training: berry picking and nut collecting, animal tracking and slingshot making. The boys have been impatient all week, disappearing into the woods with their new arrows and traps, searching for live alternatives to our decoys and fake targets. My eyes scan the circle in the half-light for our teacher, Steve. Then they stop at the metal cage in the center. A chicken thrashes around inside it, a blur of brown and green feathers; panicked, darting eyes. Steve hasn't told us why we're in here. He's only asked for a show of hands from those who've never seen an animal killed. There is only one of us. The boy, Danny, is soft spoken. I remember he helped me when I was trying to draw fire from a stick, blowing on the wisps of smoke escaping from my furious fingers, and then a semblance of a flame emerged and I clapped and forgot to keep going, and the flame died instantly. He sits quietly now at Steve's right, his eyes riveted on the chicken. It's where all our eyes meet, where a collective silence falls, the only sound being wings and feet and beak in rough contact with the cage. Steve tells us the story of his first hunt: a frenzied rush of power, a shot, shouts in the air, and the rabbit's eyes—blue fright melting to silver vacancy, its tiny legs buckling, flesh crumbling to the ground. Silence. In that moment, Steve had raced to the bushes and, with a spinning head, threw up. He hadn't known the shock of seeing a life evaporate before him. But he's convinced he could have never pulled the trigger without [End Page 136] that surge of adrenaline, of power, an almost animalistic savagery rather than the attention of a human being. "To take life you have to honor life," he is saying now. "You have to meet it in the eye, in the heart, recognize you share the same life, the same air." Steve lifts the lock to the cage. He thrusts his arm inside and grasps the terrified bird, sweeps it out, and holds it close to his body. "You have to act with intention." He strokes the brilliant feathers, brown and green and black and, in some places, almost violet. He drops his voice, talks in measured tones. My heart hurts in my chest. Steve turns to Danny, who looks so young and vulnerable there, hunched down in the shadows. I wonder if his skin prickles with fear like mine does. Danny takes the creature with fumbling fingers and cradles it like Steve has done—Steve, who's still talking in an even monotone, almost a whisper. "Can you feel his heart?" Danny nods. "Match it to yours. Slow down the beat. Tell him you respect his life, and yours. Talk to him—doesn't have to be out loud. But don't stop talking." Danny closes his eyes. His lips are barely moving. After a few moments, the bird seems to calm in its struggle and now looks strangely like Danny's pet, like they belong to one another. "When you're ready . . ." Steve's voice seems to echo from deep inside my body while Danny's eyes open. "Like this." Steve makes a quick motion with his hands, wringing an invisible life out of the universe. I steady myself and watch Danny's chest heave with an audible breath, as if he's about to jump into a lake whose bottom he can't see. Before he can exhale, his hands flash, then tighten; they release. The bird's head falls limp, his gaze locking somewhere beyond our circle, somewhere beyond the...

Frere Jacques

Frère Jacques That New Year's Eve I didn't know What was coming, Irvine, California, Decade-clicking eighty-nine to ninety, A party in a pale pink townhouse Rented by ex-opera student Manya, Now a student with us, The UC-Irvine theory-heads, Where postmodernism was as real As the concrete streets, The careful strips of grass, each townhouse Nestled in, the master plan that shaped These So Cal low-desert hills Into squares of bougainvillea, distributed palms. Manya'd made her first splash By trying to seduce Derrida, Who wasn't interested, But she kept trying, Dogging his careful, gray-loafered steps, His finely layered hair For each of the six weeks We sat and listened to him, "Oh my friends, there is no friend" At the start of each two-hour stint. We didn't blame her – [End Page 63] At Irvine, it was hard to make a mark, Each of us scrambling like the mallard ducks Huge crowds of them flashing green feathers And cold slick heads Fighting for the same swimming space On the city's only pond. I fought with Derrida About a single word, Discriminate, for he was Always hung up on some single word But this one meant something to me, A duck that imagined myself turquoise, Something not everyone could see, So my fighting with him Was both for conviction and something else, For when he announced to us In mellifluous French That discriminate meant choice between Not oppression against I felt blood in my temples and couldn't Just sit there and listen. I think I shouted bullshit, Or something like it, or maybe it was only to myself, But by the time we got to Manya's house The decade was changing, I had feet planted down, My feathers were aquamarine.

Reflectance Spectra of Plumage Areas Colored by Green Feather Pigments

-Only rarely are green plumage colors due to the presence of green pigments. The best known is turacoverdin. Two galliform species (Ithaginis, Rollolus), Jacana and some anseriform species (Somateria, Nettapus) also have green pigments. The reflectance spectra of plumage pigmented by turacoverdin are characterized by distinct minima at about 570 and 610 nm. These minima represent absorption bands as confirmed by a transmittance spectrum of a turacoverdin extract. Surprisingly, the spectra of the two galliform species and Jacana also exhibit the characteristics of the turacoverdin spectrum, while that of Somateria is different. I show that the pigments of Ithaginis, Rollolus, and Jacana also resemble turacoverdin in containing copper in relatively high concentration, and conclude that these pigments are identical with or closely related to turacoverdin. Intraand interspecific variation in reflectance spectra is assumed to be largely determined by the presence of dark, nongreen pigments in the plumage. The spectrum of turacoverdin supports the hypothesis that the pigment is closely related to the well-known red pigment of turacos (Musophagidae)-turacin. However, the chemical constitution of turacoverdin remains unknown. The presence of turacoverdin and turacin in the plumage of the Musophagidae hitherto has been considered an autapomorphy of the turacos. The fact the turacoverdin also is present in two possibly related galliform taxa argues for phylogenetic relationships between the Musophagidae and the Galliformes. Received 3 April 1991, accepted 10 January 1992. GREEN, noniridescent plumage colors can be produced in a number of ways (Auber 1957). The combination of a structural blue color with yellow pigments, as found in parrots, is best known (Frank 1939, Dyck 1971). The olive-green colors obtained by the juxtaposition of yellow and blackish pigments (apposition colors; Auber 1957, Dyck 1978) also are widespread. Central to my two studies is the question of the evolution of plumage colors that resemble the green colors of leaves, without chlorophyll being available as a feather pigment (Needham 1974:81). In principle, the simplest way to produce a green plumage color is to deposit a green pigment within the feather keratin. This possibility has been realized in only a limited number of cases. The best-known green feather pigment is turacoverdin. This is found in some turacos (Musophagidae), especially the species of Tauraco and Musophaga, and possibly also in the Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata; Krukenberg 1882, Moreau 1958). Preliminary chemical studies have been carried out (Moreau 1958). Other known green pigments are zooprasinin in the remiges of the Jacana (Jacana spinosa, Jacanidae; Rensch 1925), phasianoverdin in belly feathers of the Blood Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus, Phasianidae; Gotz 1925), and a green pigment in much of the plumage of the Roulroul (Crested Wood-Partridge, Rollolus roulroul, Phasianidae), especially the female (Volker 1961). The green pigments in some anseriform species (Nettapus, Somateria; Auber 1957) are poorly known (Brush 1978). I describe the reflectance spectra of green plumage areas in several species and discuss factors that influence the shapes of the spectra. I compare the reflectance spectra with the spectrum of turacoverdin in extract and from this infer the probable identity of some of the pigments. MATERIALS AND METHODS Most measurements were performed on study skins from the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, and the British Museum (Natural History). A few measurements were also carried out on mounted specimens. The spectrum of the nape of an adult male Eider (Somateria mollissima) was scanned on feathers taken from a newly dead bird. Feathers plucked from live birds were obtained from the Zoological Garden, Copenhagen, and kept four months in the dark before measurement. Reflectance spectra were obtained on a Beckman DK-2A spectrophotometer with a reflectance attachment and using a reference of magnesium oxide. The illuminated spot was approximately 8 x 8 mm.