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, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES stopped and start shaking the gular pouches laterally (3-5 Another rare observation made during the breeding times)(Fig.2). Immediatelyafter,both madea360°rotation, season in2000wasofninemalesdisplayingatthesametime walkedtotheplacewheretheystarted,andrepeatedthesame within 500to 1000m fromeachother inVingaber.Thiscould sequenceforabout 5 to 7minutes. Later, both thebirds faced be due to lack of proper display sites in other areas ofthe each other,jumped at the same instant from the ground and grasslands, or because more females congregate at this dashedtheirbreasts(Fig. 3),and legsagainsteach other(Fig. location(fivefemalesweresightedherecomparedtooneand 4), as reported by Rahmani (1989). Once they landed, both rarely two in other places). No territorial fight was observed held each other by locking their necks (Fig. 5). This was at that time. In this case also, territorial fighting would be followed by pecking (Fig. 6) by the ownerofthe territory or disadvantageous to the males involved, compared to those the winner. After nearly three minutes ofsparring, the loser not involved, who would be able to spend more time and released himselffrom the winner and llew to his territory or energy in display to attract females. another spot. The different postures (Figs 1-6) (Art by VG) show the sequence in territorial fighting behaviour. February24,2003 JUSTUS JOSHUA1 Interestingly enough, probably the same males (not V. GOKULA2 certain, since the birds were not colour- or radio-tagged) on S.F.WESLEY SUNDERRAJ1 three occasions shared the same place without territorial 'Gujarat InstituteofDesert Ecology, lighting when the females were not nearby. Both the cocks Post Box 83,Opp. ChangleshwarTemple, ignored each other and foraged very close for about 10 Mundra Road, Bhuj 370001 Kachchh, , minutes, after which the intruder flew to his own territory. Gujarat, India. This could be a strategy to save energy in the absence of 2DepartmentofZooIogy,National College, females,as itwouldbedisadvantageousforthebirdtoexpend Tiruchirapalli620001 energy fighting, which ifstored would help while courtinga TamilNadu, female.All thiscould be part ofthe species’ matingstrategy. India. REFERENCE Rahmani,A.R. (1989): The Great Indian Bustard. Final Report. BombayNatural History Society. 234 pp. SPOTTED DOVE STREPTOPELIA CHINENSIS FEEDING ON WINGED TERMITES 15. Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis (Gmelin) is well individuals feedingtogetheron thetermites clearly indicates known to be a granivore. It feeds on grains ofpaddy,jowar thatitisnotanunusualfeedinghabit. Mostlikely,theSpotted and other cereals, lentils and pulses, grass and weed seeds Doves inthisareaareusedtofeedingonsuchseasonal insects (compact handbook, Ali and Ripley, 1987). But there is no or turn to insectivory during such seasons. record of it feeding on insects. We note here our recent observation on Spotted Doves feedingon winged termites in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sarkarpathy, Pollachi division ofthe Indira Gandhi Wildlife SanctuaryandNational Park,TamilNadu. We are thankful to the Ministry of Environment and OnJune27,2002at0820hrs,whilemonitoringascrub Forests,GovernmentofIndiaandtheBombayNatural History jungle transect, the feedingbehaviour oftwo Spotted Doves Society forsupport and facilities. The firstauthorwould like attractedourattention. To oursurprise,thedoveswerefound to acknowledge Mr. Ashfaq Ahmed Zarri and Mr. B. feedingon wingedtermites(dead and alive)on the roadside. Senthilmurugan, Research Fellows, BNHS for their Asimilarobservationwasmadeagainat0925 hrs, inthesame suggestions. habitat, but this time eight Spotted Doves were feeding togetheronthetermites.Aswewereobservingthisbehaviour, December30,2002 N. S1VAKUMARAN aThree-stripedPalm SquirrelFunambuluspalmarum aGrey ASAD R. RAHMANI , Junglefowl Gallus sonneratii and Sirkeer Malkoha BombayNatural HistorySociety, Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii also arrived and started Hornbill House,S.B. Singh Road, feedingon thesetermites very close to each other. While the Mumbai 400023,Maharashtra, others are known insectivores, doves feeding on winged India. termites is unusual and deserves mention, sighting ofeight Email: [email protected] J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 102 (1), Jan-Apr 2005 115