London ducks quack it louder
Fri 4 June, 2004 22:02
LONDON (Reuters) - Ducks quack to each other in regional dialects, with London ducks brashly drowning out their relaxed rural relatives, a researcher says.
Victoria de Rijke of Middlesex University compared ducks in central London to peers in quiet, rural Cornwall as part of her academic quest to answer the crucial question: 'Do ducks quack in the same way all over the world?'
"There are definite differences between them, with the London ducks noisier, laughing raucously, and the Cornish ones soft and chilled-out," she said on Friday, attributing this to the need for city dwellers to make themselves heard over a background drone of police sirens, aeroplanes, trains and other noises.
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