MISCELLANEOUS NOTES A. SHIVAPRAKASH fields close to the lake. But in subsequentyears, cultivation ofthis area led the harriersto abandon the roost. Reports of #478, 3rdCross Road, 8lhMain Road, harrierroosts from Indiahave been few, and although major ‘H’Block,RamakrishnaNagar, sites have been identified (Clarke 1996, Rahmani and Mysore570022, Manakadan 1987, Satheesan and Rao 1990), much work Karnataka, India. remains to be done to identify the smaller, perhaps more Email: [email protected] numeroussites(Prakash2001). MOHAN KUMAR M. October20,2002 S.THEJASW1 Mysore Amateur Naturalists, 227,3rdMain,A-l Block, 639,“SibiaHouse”, 16thCross, ‘B’Block,Vijayanagar3rdStage, Vijayanagar3rdStage, Mysore 570017,Karnataka, India. Mysore570017, Email:[email protected] Karnataka, India. REFERENCES Clarke, R. (1996): Preliminary observations on the importance ofa Rahmani, A.R. & R. Manakadan (1987): A large roost ofharriers in large communal roost ofwintering Harriers in Gujarat (NW. AndhraPradesh,India.J. BombayNat Hist.Soc.83(Centenary India) and comparison with a roost in Senegal (W. Africa). Suppl.): 203-204. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 93(1): 44-50. Satheesan, S.M. & Prakash Rao (1990): Roosting and feeding of Prakash, V. (2001): Operation Harrier: Harrier survey ofthe Indian harriersinSecunderabad,AndhraPradesh../ BombayNat. Hist subcontinent. Pitta 118: 1-2. Soc. 87(1): 143. OCCURRENCE OF AMUR FALCON FALCO AMURENSIS RADDE AND 12. LESSER KESTREL FALCO NAUMANNI FLEISCHER IN MYSORE, KARNATAKA TheAmur Falcon Falco amurensis and Lesser Kestrel unmarked brightbrownmantleandback,agreysub-terminal Falco naumanni were observed in an open expanse of band to the wings, relatively unmarked chest and absence of grassland at the Mandakhalli Airport area (12° 13' N, 76° acheek-stripe. Palerclawsvis-a-vistheCommonKestrelFalco 39'E), c. 8 kmsouth ofMysorecity(12° 18'N, 76° 33' E)on tinmmculus, was noted for both sexes using a 15-45 x 60 January 12and 14,2001. Onthe 12th, SSsawafewkestrelsat spotting scope. Females were similar to Common Kestrel a distance at the Mandakhalli lake nearby, while he was females, which differed in having dark claws. After light conductingawaterfowlcensus. Hecountedatotal ofthirteen conditions improved, we could observe these small falcons birds, and since it was unusual for kestrels to congregate, he better. They kept flying about in scattered flocks for around attempted further investigation but could not confirm the fifteen minutes after leaving the roost, but slowly spread identity of the birds. On the 14th shortly after dawn, we throughouttheentireairfieldandfurther. Mostofthemmoved , observed several hundredAmur Falcons take offfrom eight away in a southerly direction, but 35 F. naumanni remained Acaciartiloticatreesalongtheperipheryoftheairfield. They behind. The individuals were mostly males and were spread took offsingly first, then in twos and threes and finally in widely intheairfield. Intheevening,at 1730hrs,wecouldsee small groups ofup to seven birds. The estimated number of most oftheAmur Falcons and Lesser Kestrels settling in the birds was around 550, the male:female ratio being Acacia trees rather noisily, swarming around the trees, approximately 60:40. The male was identified by its frequently dashing in the air as ifcatching something, just unmistakable sooty grey body, with rusty red vent and legs. likebee-eaters.AliandRipley(1978)recordedsimilarbehaviour In flight, the white underwing coverts contrast with grey for the birds as they settle to roost. The birds were present primaries and secondaries. In the female, grey upper-parts, well before sunset and began to group-up just after. They white throat and collar, a blackish stripe on the cheeks, and werepresent the followingmorning, butdid notreturn in the markings on the underside - longitudinal spots on the chest evening, or for the next two days. We assume that by then andlateralbarringfurtherdowntotheabdominal region.The they had left the areacompletely. presence of Lesser Kestrels was discerned after light Amur Falcon is described as a passage migrant, with conditions improved, but they were fewer in number than occasional breeding records from N. Cachar, now in Assam AmurFalcons. Wecounted 89birds,ofwhich 56were males (Ali andRipley 1978),butnone inthepastseveraldecades. It and rest females. Males were readily identifiable by their has been recorded as on passage at several points in J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004 451 6 , MISCELLANEOUS NOTES peninsular India, which Aii and Ripley (1978) refer to as unpublished).AliandRipley(1978)mentionF.amurensisand ‘stragglers’. This sighting is the second for Karnataka after F.naumannimigratingtogether.Arjal(1976)recordsthesame more than a century; the last published report goes back to fromNepal, and oursightingcorroborates it. 1898inKarwar(Davidson 1898). LesserKestrel is listedasan endangered species inthe October20,2002 S. THEJASWI1 BirdLifeInternationalRedDataBookonAsianbirds(BirdLife SRIHARI SASTRY International 2001). Ali and Ripley (1978) write for Falco 639, SibiaHouse, 1 thCross, naumanni “Status uncertain. Apparently rare winter visitor; ‘B’Block,Vijayanagar3rdStage, perhaps more correctly as an irregular through passage Mysore570017,Karnataka, India. migranttoE.AfricaliketheRed-leggedFalcon,afewstragglers 'Email:[email protected] remainingbehind.” Ithasbeen obtained asthus from several locations in a wide area of north and north-eastern and A. SHIVAPRAKASH peninsular India, up to the Nilgiris in the south. It has also #478,3rdCrossRoad, 8thMainRoad, beenobservedintheMaldives(AliandRipley 1978). Inmore ‘H’Block,RamakrishnaNagar, recenttimes, ithasbeenrecordedfromCorbettNationalPark, Mysore570022,Karnataka, India. Uttaranchal(Naoroji 1999), KazirangaNational Park,Assam MOHAN KUMAR (BaruaandSharma 1999)andWynaad,Kerala(Zachariasand M. Gaston 1993)in India, Dera Ismail Khandistrict in northwest Mysore Amateur Naturalists Pakistan(Kylanpaa2000)andfromSriLanka(Hoffmann 1996). 227,3rdMain,A-1 Block, Thereisareliablebutunpublishedrecordofthe birdfromthe Vijayanagar,3rdStage, Biligirirangan Hills in south Karnataka (Srinivasa et al. Mysore570017,Karnataka, India. REFERENCES Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1978): Handbook ofthe Birds of India and Hoffmann, T.W. (1996): New bird records in Sri Lanka and some Pakistan. Vol. 1-10vols. 2ndedn,OxfordUniversity Press, Delhi. connected matters. J Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 93(3): 382-388. Arjal,N. (1976): SightingofRed-footedFalconsand LesserKestrels Kylanpaa, J. (2000): Birdsofthe Dera Ismail Khan DistrictofNorth in Pokhara. NepalConservationSocietyNewsletter,31 (July). West Frontier Province in Pakistan. Forktail 16: 15-28. Barua, M. & P. Sharma (1999): Birds ofKaziranga National Park, Naoroji, R. (1999): Statusofdiurnal raptorsofCorbettNational Park India. Forktail 15: 47-60. with notes on their ecology and conservation. J. Bombay Nat. Birdlife International (2001): Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni. In: Hist. Soc. 96(3): 387-398. Threatened Birds ofAsia: the BirdLife International Red Data Srinivasa,T.S.,S.Karthikeyan&J.N. Prasad(1997):Afaunalsurvey book. Vol. 1. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. pp. 759- oftheBiligiriranganHillsTempleSanctuary.MerlinNatureClub, 771. Bangalore.Unpublished. Davidson, J. (1898): The Birds ofNorth Kanara. Part II. J. Bombay Zacharias,V.J.&A..I. Gaston(1993): ThebirdsofWynaad,southern Nat. Hist. Soc. 12(1): 43-72. India. Forktail8(Feb): 1 1-23. NATURAL HISTORY NOTES ON CHICKS OF THE NICOBAR MEGAPODE 13. MEGAPODIUS NICOBAR1ENSIS The Nicobar Megapode Megapodius nicobariensis is (Jones etal. 1995). Observations ofthechicks ofthe mound one ofthe 22 species of megapodes and is endemic to the buildingNicobarMegapodehavenotbeenpublishedindetail. Nicobar Islands, India. Megapodes are a unique group of This note describes the behaviour ofchicks ofthe Nicobar birds asthey utilise external sourcesofheatto incubatetheir Megapode. eggs(Jonesetal. 1995). Superprecocialchicksofmegapodes This study was carried out between December 1995 hatchatdepthsfromc.20cmto 1 mormorefromtheincubation andMay 1998onGreatNicobarIsland(6°76-6°79'N,93°81'- site(Jonesetal. 1995). Inordertoemergefromtheincubation 93° 84'E).All themounds in the studyareawere monitored. site they must dig to the surface, an action they perform When an egg was laid, it was dug out and weighed to the withoutanyassistancefromtheadult(Frith 1959,Jonesetal. nearest gram using a spring balance. After weighing and 1995).Thetimetaken inmovingfromthelevelofhatchingto marking, the egg was reburied in the same eggchamberand the surface varies with depth, the nature and compaction of the mound was re-built. To monitor the egg as well as thesubstrate,andenergyreservesoftheindividualhatchlings hatchling behaviour inside the mound, glass plates were 452 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004