MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 1991), gets its drinking water from the Kho river. Protection misused. A restaurant, which is showing signs of expansion, of the corridor forests, which form the catchment area of these has already come up to the right of the road, just a kilometre streams, therefore becomes extremely crucial. Massive and short of Amsod. Since the Kho river is used by elephants and sustained conservation awareness programmes in the villages other wildlife, it may be necessary to convert the two staff and Kotdwar township about the importance of these forests quarters in the abandoned nursery into an anti-poaching camp. as watershed, and the need to protect them from fire, would 3. Resettlement: On a priority basis, the gujjar and certainly help in ultimately reducing pressures on the forests. bhotia deras from Laldhang and Kotdwar ranges should be Massive planting of local evergreen species such as Mangifera resettled in the southern periphery of Chiriyapur Range of indica, Putranjiva roxburghii and Syzygium cuminii around Haridwar FD. springs in this corridor, involving local people, particularly school children, is likely to stimulate ecological awareness. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2. Protection: Special efforts should be made to protect the forests (from the iron bridge across Kho river near Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand permitted us to Kotdwar to Amsod village, a distance of about 5 km) from do the study. Save the Tiger Fund - USA provided the funds development and garbage as a result of picnicking at the river. and Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, The perennial and scenic, small river can attract encroachers, encouraged us to take up the study. Shirish Kumar Kyatham and the abandoned buildings, past the iron bridge near a small prepared the figures, M.P. Aggarwal word processed the text Lord Shiva temple, and in the Department of Water Supply and Nima Manjrekar read through the manuscript. We thank compound, about a kilometre from the iron bridge, might be them all very sincerely. REFERENCES Bist. S.S. (2002): An overview of elephant conservation in India. Indian Pp. viii+110. Forester 128: 121-136. FIarihar, A., B. Pandav & S.P. Goyal (2009a): Responses of tiger Dudley. N. & S. Stolton (2003): Running Pure: The importance of (Panthera tigris) and their prey to removal of anthropogenic forest protected areas to drinking water. A research report for influences in Rajaji National Park, India. European Journal of the World Bank/WWF Alliance for Forest Conservation and Wildlife Research 55: 97-105. Sustainable Use. 112 pp. FIarihar, A., D.L. Prasad, C. Ri. B. Pandav & S.P. Goyal (2009b): Jhala. Y.V.. R. Gopal & Q. Qureshi (2008): Status of Tigers, Co-Predators Losing ground: tigers Panthera tigris in the north-western and Prey in India. National Tiger Conservation Authority and Shivalik landscape of India. Oryx 43: 35-43. Wildlife Institute of India. Dehradun. TR 08/001 pp. 164. Meher-Homji, M. (1989): Trends of rainfall relation to forest cover. Johnsingh. A.J.T.. S.N. Prasad & S.P. Goyal(1990): Conservation status Pp. 48-59. In: Jayal, N.D. (Ed.): Deforestation, Drought and of Chilla-Motichur corridor for elephant movement in Rajaji- Desertification, Perceptions on a growing ecological crisis. Corbett National Parks area. India. Biological Conservation 51: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, New Delhi, 125-138. pp. 147. Johnsingh, A.J.T. & A.S. Negi (2003a): Operation Eye of the Tiger - Sunderraj, S.F.W.. B.K. Mishra & A.J.T. Johnsingh (1993): Elephant India. Final report submitted to Save the Tiger Fund, USA. for use of Rajaji Corbett forest corridor, northwest India. the period April 1996 - June 2003. Pp.17. Pp. 261-269. In: Daniel. J.C. & H.S. Datye (Eds): A Week With Johnsingh, A.J.T. & A.S. Negi (2003b): Status of tiger and leopard in Elephants. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford Rajaji-Corbett Conservation Unit, northern India. Biological University Press, Bombay. Conservation 111: 385-393. Wikramanayake, E., E. Dinerstein, J.G. Robinson, U. Karanth, Johnsingh, A.J.T., K. Ramesh, Q. Qureshi, A. David, S.P. Goyal, A. Rabinowitz, D. Olson, T. Mathew, P. Hedao, M. Connor, G.S. Rawat, K. Rajapandian & S. Prasad (2004): Conserv ation G. Hemley & D. Bolze (1998): An ecology based method for status of tiger and associated species in the Terai Arc Landscape. defining priorities for large mammal conservation: the tiger as India. RR-04/001, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. case study. Conservation Biology 12: 865-878. 7. SIGHTING OF A RARE DARK MORPH OF GREY FRANCOLIN FRANCOLINUS PONDICER/ANUS GMELIN 1789 NEAR SURENDRANAGAR. GUJARAT. INDIA 1 Aditya Roy '2/B. Haritej Society. Opp. ATIRA/AMA. Behind Apang Manav Mandal. Dr. V.S. Road. Vastrapur. Ahmedabad 380 015. Gujarat, India. Email: [email protected] On August 16, 2010, around 17:30 hrs, while in the photographic trip I sighted a pair of dark birds moving in a wilderness around Surendranagar city of Gujarat, on a bush in the wild areas. At first I mistook it for a black J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 107 (3), Sep-Dec 2010 249 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES francolin but on literature survey, I identified them to be Grey Helm Guide Series, London. 384 pp.). These Grey Francolins Francolins Francolinuspondicerianus (Grimmett etal. 1999: Francolinus pondicerianus had an unusually dark plumage pocket guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent. The due to presence of excessive melanin. 8. RECENT OCCURRENCE OF THE BROWN-HEADED BARBET MEGALAIMA ZEYLANICA GMELIN 1788 AND OTHER DRY COUNTRY SPECIES IN PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE, KERALA, SOUTHERN INDIA - ARE THESE RELATED TO ECOLOGICAL CHANGE? V.J. Zacharias1 and Richard T. Holmes2 'Division of Biology, Northern Virginia Community College, Manassas, Virginia 20109, USA. Email: [email protected] department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA. Email: [email protected] Periyar Tiger Reserve, a major part of the Cardamom The Brown-headed Barbet occurs mostly in the rain Hill Reserve, is located on the wet zone of the Western Ghats shadow region of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and in Kerala, southern India. The area harbours a rich bird fauna Karnataka, in the deciduous biotope, which include the areas of which has been studied periodically since the 1800s (Elwes these states bordering Kerala (VJZ pers.obs.). Little information 1870; Ali 1935-37; Berlioz 1940; Nichols 1944-45; Nair et is available on the status and distribution of this species in Kerala. cv/. 1985; Robertson and Jackson 1992; Srivastava etal. 1993; During the Travancore-Cochin ornithological survey, Ali (1935- Santharam 1996; Veeranrani et al. 2005; Elamon 2006; 37, 1984) noted the bird at Thattekad and collected a specimen Sugathan 2008). The Brown-headed Barbet Megalaima from Aramboli near the Tamil Nadu border. However, Ali (1984) zeylanica, which is endemic to the Indian subcontinent did not mention Thattekad as a locality for this bird and wrote (Rasmussen and Anderton 2005), has not been previously that the species was local and apparently confined to the reported from the Reserve. This note reports the occurrence deciduous low country in southern Kerala only. According to of the Brown-headed Barbet and other dry country species Whistler and Kinnear (1935) two races of the Brown-headed sighted at about 700 m elevation in the Periyar Tiger Reserve Barbet occurred in Kerala, M.z. zeylanica in the south and M.z. in recent years. inornata in the north, as evidenced by specimens in Ali (1935-37), Robertson and Jackson (1992), Nair et the British Museum. But Abdulali (1971) did not admit M.z. al. (1985) and Srivastava et al. (1993) who have documented zeylanica in the Indian mainland. A recently published book, the avifauna of Periyar, and Yahya (1988) who studied the birds of kerala (Ali 1999) recorded two races of the Brown¬ biology of barbets in the Reserve from 1977-1980 recorded headed Barbet in Kerala. There are recent sight records of the only two species of barbets, namely White-cheeked Barbet Brown-headed Barbet at Parambikulam and Chinnar Wildlife Megalaima viridis and Crimson-fronted Barbet Megalaima sanctuaries, Malampuzha, Elivalmala and Palakkad gap, all near rubricapilla. Prasad (1990) who studied the avian abundance the Tamil Nadu border (Jafer Palot pers. comm.). The species is in Idukky Wildlife Sanctuary, around the Hydroelectric area, fairly common in Tamil Nadu, adjoining Periyar in the east, at also on the Western Ghats about 50 km north of Periyar, lower elevations. There is a specimen of the species in the recorded same two species, and a third species, the Crimson¬ Smithsonian Museum collected at Vannathiparai (450 m) in breasted Barbet M. haemocephala. Nichols (1944-1945) also Tamil Nadu, about 12 km away from the site of our observation. did not record the Brown-headed Barbet in Periyar. The occurrence of the Brown-headed Barbet within While looking for birds on the Anchuruly road in Periyar near Anavachal, which is about 2 km away from the Periyar on February 21.2007, we came across two Brown¬ Tamil Nadu border, at about 700 m, raises interesting headed Barbets on a fig tree near the forest edge, behind the questions. The species seems to have moved from a dry habitat Anavachal guest house at about 700 m elevation. The at lower elevation to a higher elevation where the habitat has vegetation is moist deciduous forest with teak as the dominant become drier and thus more suitable for the species. This tree species and frequently disturbed by tourists, firewood illustrates encroachment of a dry habitat, lower elevation collectors and cattle grazing. The unmistakable call of the species to a higher elevation. The extension in range may be bird attracted our attention. VJZ who worked as a research related to the changes in vegetation structure and perhaps officer at Periyar from 1991-97, lived at the Anavachal guest consequent changes in weather in the peripheral areas of the house from May to December 1991 and frequently visited Reserve in the Thekkady range. the area while working in Periyar, had never previously seen It is worth mentioning that three other dry country the species in this area or anywhere in the tiger reserve. species, the Eurasian Collard Dove Streptopelia decaocto, 250 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 107 (3), Sep-Dec 2010