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588 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 93 (1996) , birdwatcher spoke to me about a drawing given to the same size, have very similar calls and him by Dr. Bakul Trivedi who made it during a demonstrate common mannerisms, and though the WWF-I outing to the lessor Hills just south ofMt. males are distinctive, the females resemble each Abu. Theprominent white eyebrow, blueupperparts other. These facts suggest why the Blue may have and whiteunderparts with aprominent greyish band been given a go by. broken by white on the chest were shown. Shareneshwarisbetween thetowns ofIdar and Lalsinhbhai and Dr. Trivedi went out birding Vijaynagar in Sabar Kantha (Himmatnagar) District to Himmatnagar on 5th February and in a grove of northeast of Ahmedabad. trees edging the river at Shareneshwar temple, Dr. LAVKUMAR KHACHER Trivedi pointed out his puzzle bird. Lalsinhbhai has April 6, 1995 seen the Whitebrowed Blue Flycatcher in the 646 Vastunirman, , Himalaya. Lalsinhbhai mentions Redbreasted Gandhinagar, Flycatchers also being around. The two species are Gujarat-382 022. References Ali, S & S.D. Ripley (1987): HandbookoftheBirds ofIndia Ripley, S.D. II (1982): A Synopsis ofthe Birds ofIndia and andPakistan. CompactEdition, Oxford UniversityPress, Pakistan. Bombay Natural History Society. New Delhi. NOTES ON GREEN MUNIA 13. Seven species ofmunia are found in theIndian is not given for obvious reasons). An isolated subcontinent (Ali & Ripley 1987). Of these, the population ofabout60to 70birdswas seen in astony, Green munia (Estrilda formosa) is listed as arid wasteland. They appear to move around in a threatened in India(Collar, Crossby and Stattersfield limited area of about 1 sq. km. 1994). The survey was done in the non-breeding The green munia is an endemic species, very season. Themaximum flock sizewas seven. The first locally and unevenly distributed. It is found mainly bird was sighted at 0545 hrs and I could observe in central India from Mt. Abu, Gwalior, Jhansi and them almost throughout the day. Bimodal activity Surguja south to Mahabaleshwar, district Adilabad pattern of feeding was noticed. Most of the long- and upto the Vishakhapatnam Ghats. It is also duration sightings were in the afternoon when the recorded fromLucknow andLahore and from Bihar birds used to gather and rest in Ipomea shrubs. The & (Ali Ripley 1983). In recent years nothing has birds were seen reaching the resting site from 0900 been reported on the species, although it is apopular hrs where they remained till 1500 hrs. The resting cage bird. site was comparatively cool due to water and I conducted a short survey between 5-7 June, presence of vegetation. The day resting site was 1994, on the species around Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. shaded by tall, dense Ficus trees. According to the information gathered from local It was seen that the Green Munia mostly keep bird trappers, the specieshas been largely wiped out to themselves whileresting and foraging. Itwas also from nearJhansi although a few populationsdo exist observed that they never roosted communally with near Tikamgarh. An extensive two day search on the Red munia Estrilda amandava) or other species ( the Chatarpur road resulted in locating a small in congregation in the sugarcane field. This is also population in a nearby village, (name of the village confirmed by trappers who catch many species of MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 589 munias (Red or Spotted) in large numbers in a very large extent. Previous visits to Lucknow, and sugarcane fields, but never get the Green Munia in information from Mt. Abu have also confirmed that these flocks. most isolated populations near these places and in Other birds seen in the vicinity of the Green many areas ofMadhya Pradeshhavebeen wiped out munia sharing the same resources were the Red bybird trappers as thisbird can be easily caughtwith munia Estrilda amandava Spotted munia baiting and decoy birds, and trappers can catch most ( ), Lonchura punctulata Whitethroated munia (L. of the individuals of an area. (. ), malabarica), Blackheaded munia(L. malacca Baya There is a need for a full fledgedproject on the ), (Ploceus philippinus). Black-throated baya (P. Green Munia to study the various aspects of benghalensis) and Streaked weaver (P. manyar). its biology and also the impact of trapping the The Green munia is not a shy bird; it could be species. m approached as close as 8-10 and was found near human habitations. When approached they used to Acknowledgement fly to nearby bushes, and while doing so the green colouron theirbackperfectly camouflagedthem with I am thankful to Dr. Asad R. Rahmani for his the surroundings. Often it was seen that two birds, suggestion on this article and also to Zafar-ul Islam most likely a pair, would sit on a branch and when for assisting in its preparation. excited would flatten their tail, pointing towardseach other while uttering a high pitched note. March 31, 1995 RAJAT BHARGAVA According to aTRAFFIC-Indiareport on live Centre ofWildlife & Ornithology, birds (Ahmed and Menon, 1995), it seems that A.M.U. Aligarh-202002, trapping is a threat to its population which is true to India. References Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1983): Handbook of Birds of India Mimeographed report by TRAFFIC-India. and Pakistan. Together with those ofBangladesh, Nepal, Collar, N.J., M.J. Crossby and A.J. Stahersfield (1993): Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Compact Edition. Oxford Birds to Watch 2: The World list of Threatened Birds University Press, Delhi. Birdlife International, UK. Ahmed, A. and V. Menon (1995): Bird Trade in India - COMMENTS ON SOME NEW BIRD RECORDS FROM TAMILNADU 14. In a recent issue of the Journal, S. (Sivaprasad, pers. comm.). Breeding of Coots has Balachandran has reported a few new records in also been reportedrecently in Keralaby C. Sushanth certain bird species in Tamilnadu JBNHS 91(2): Kumar (NewsletterforBirdwatchers, 33: 55, 1993). ( : 314; 317-318; 322-323; 1994). These include Although the Indian Courser Cursorius ( breeding records of Coot and occurrences of the coromandelicus) is not acommon bird, it iscertainly Indian Courser, Black Redstart and Small Minivet. I not as rare as suggested by Balachandran. It occurs have a few comments to make on these notes. mostly in dry, stony, open areas, dried-up lake The breeding of Coot (Fulica atra) in marginsetc., and Ihave seen birds in suitablehabitats Coimbatore(Tamilnadu) in 1983 wasearlierreported aroundMadras in small numbers. Theseinclude open by PS. Sivaprasad Blackbuck 2(2): 17-19, 1986). areas near Vendanthangal, Velacherry (outskirts of ( , These birds continue to breed in the same area and Madras city), near Thirupporur (off the old even recently, in 1995, young birds were seen Mahabalipuram Road) and along the road from