AUDITORY STIMULATION OF OVARIAN ACTIVITY IN RING DOVE (STREPTOPELIA-RISORIA)

The ovarian follicles of female ring doves (N = 43) placed in sound-isolation chambers, declined in size over a 21-day period. When, during the subsequent 7 days, some of these females (N = 21) were allowed to hear the sounds picked up by a microphone in a breeding room, the size of their ovarian follicles increased by a factor of approximately two, in contrast to those of birds not allowed to hear dove vocalizations (N = 22), in which no significant increase in follicle size occurred. Oviduct weights were also increased in the birds allowed to hear vocalizations, by comparison with the control group. These data suggest that vocalizations have as one function the stimulation of the reproductive system of fellow-members of the species. © 1969.