In songbirds, the size of brain nuclei that control song learning and production change seasonally. These changes are mainly controlled by seasonal changes in plasma testosterone (T) concentration. One hypothesis to explain why it may be adaptive for these areas to regress in the fall is that this would decrease the metabolic demand of maintaining a large song system when singing is reduced or absent. We used a marker for cellular metabolism to examine birds with regressed song nuclei and compared them to birds whose song nuclei were induced to grow by administration of exogenous T. Photorefractory male Gambel's white-crowned sparrows were captured during their autumnal migration and kept in outdoor aviaries on a natural photoperiod. We implanted birds with Silastic capsules containing T or with empty implants. Three weeks later the birds were sacrificed. We assayed the brains for cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity and measured the volume of four song nuclei: HVc, RA, 1MAN, and area X. All four nuclei increased in volume in response to T treatment. T treatment increased the metabolic capacity of area X, HVc, and RA relative to surrounding tissue but had no effect on the metabolic capacity of 1MAN. These results support the hypothesis that song nuclei are more metabolically active under the influence of T than they are when plasma T levels are low.

Summary. For the sand scorpion, Paruroctonus mesaen~ sis, substrate moisture is a powerful and fast-acting stimulus of discrete behaviors related to localization and imbibitory uptake of water. These behaviors are readily observed in the field and quantified in the laboratory when free-roaming animals encounter sand substrates dampened by small amounts of water. Of 10 behaviors we monitored in laboratory tests, 5 (pedipalp-pull, rototiller-digging, prolonged stops, headstand, and backingup) occurred only after contact with a moistened substrate. These water-stimulated behaviors were selectively blocked when all 8 tarsal leg segments were coated with wax; coverings of the chemosensory pectine appendages had little to no effect. Electrophysiological recordings from chemoreceptor organs on the tarsi showed that neurons innervating the dorsal tarsal organ, were highly sensitive to humid air stimuli while the numerous, poretipped hairs on the ventral surface were responsive to aqueous solutions applied directly to their tips. Selective blocking of the 8 tarsal organs had no effect on water sensitive behavior indicating that the chemosensory hairs mediate detection of substrate moisture. Such localized, sensory triggering of a robust and directed behavior presents a useful model for further neuroethological studies.

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