182 Indian Vol. 15 No. 6 (Publ. 15 June 2020)

collected by S. D. Ripley in Nagaland on 03 December 1950 (Yale Peabody Museum 2017), and the other (UMMZ birds #178643) collected by Walter Koelz in Karong, Manipur, on 23 November 1950 (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 2019). A search of images posted on www.orientalbirdimages.org and specimens collected on portal.vertnet.org indicate that while dabryii has been recorded in China and Thailand, isolata has

been recorded in Myanmar, and , Manipur, Nagaland, Soumen Roy Chowdhury and Mizoram in . Therefore, it seems that during its winter/ seasonal movements, the distribution of dabryii may be limited to an area where it meets isolata: south of the Brahmaputra in India on the west, and Myanmar to the east. We could not trace any photographs of this race from India, and hence ours appears to be a first record after nearly 70 years from India. 235. Asian Desert Warbler showing clearly the yellow iris. Authors thank Praveen J. for his guidance and suggestions for this manuscript. The Asian Desert Warbler is a of the arid landscape, breeding through the northern and eastern regions of the Caspian Sea coasts, north-eastern Iran, much of Mongolia, and north- Reference western China. Its non-breeding range extends from north-eastern Rasmussen, P. C. & Anderton, J. C. (2012). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vol. , mostly along the coast, Arabia, and farther eastwards 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington D. C. and Barcelona. till north-western India (Aymí et al. 2019). It is a winter visitor University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 2019 UMMZ Birds Collection. Record to north-western India, mainly Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana ID: c4513a0b-f924-11e2-b158-782bcb84bc75. Source: https://ipt.lsa.umich.edu/ and, sparingly, in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, resource.do?r=ummz_birds (source published on 2019-07-29) Yale Peabody Museum. 2017. Vertebrate Zoology Division - Ornithology, Yale Peabody Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra (Grimmett et Museum. Record ID: urn:uuid:57424333-c498-4ffb-b424-a8e7eed91a28. Source: al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderon 2012; eBird 2019): all records http://ipt.peabody.yale.edu/ipt/resource.do?r=ipt_vz_orn (source published on north-westwards of a line connecting Mumbai (Maharashtra), 2017-10-22). Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand). The – Rofikul Islam, Samir Ovalekar & Subhadeep Ghosh bird has not occurred further southwards or eastwards from this Rofikul Islam, Kaziranga, Golaghat, 785609, India. E-mail: [email protected] line, and, hence, is an addition to the avifauna of West and Samir Ovalekar, 3, Jayvant, 36 Mahant Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai 400057, Maharashtra, India. E-mail: [email protected] the eastern most record for the Indian Subcontinent. Subhadeep Ghosh, B-107 Legend Apartments, Vakola, Santacruz (E), Mumbai 400055, Maharashtra, India. E-mail: [email protected] References Aymí, R., Gargallo, G., & Christie, D. A., 2019. Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana). In: Asian Desert Warbler Sylvia nana in Lava, del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A., & de Juana, E., (eds.). Handbook On 25 October 2019, I visited Lava (27.01°N, 88.63°E; Kalimpong of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Website URL: https:// www.hbw.com/node/58960. [Accessed on 11 November 2019.] District, West Bengal) to photograph a few specific of eBird 2019. eBird Maps: Asian Desert Warbler Sylvia nana Website URL: https://ebird. birds. Souvik Debnath, Rishov Pal, and I were busy on the Lava org/india/map/asdwar1. [Accessed on 11 November 2019.] Ladam Road, photographing birds in a narrow creek, when I saw Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. a movement on the ground and spotted a small bird. It was not London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. at all shy and I took a single photograph [234]. It had a yellow Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide: iris and orbital ring, and a rufous rump and tail. At that time, attributes and status. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian we were not sure about the species and thought it was either a Institution and Lynx Edicions. Vol. 2 of 2 vols. Pp. 1–683. – Soumen Roy Chowdhury Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti or a Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia 2/84/B, Regent Colony, Kolkata 700040, West Bengal, India. . Suddenly the bird landed right in front of us and I was E-mail: [email protected] able to take more pictures [235]. Later, with the help of Sandeep Chakroborty, Kanad Baidya, and Biswapriya Rahut we figured out Common Merganser Mergus merganser specimen that it was an Asian Desert Warbler S. nana. Identification is easy as there are no similar species with such a distinct white eye-ring, shot at Isarda Dam, Tonk District, Rajasthan, and its yellow iris, and rufous tail. status in peninsular India The Common Merganser Mergus merganser is a fish-eating diver and pursues prey with great agility. It is long-bodied and streamlined, with a long, narrow, hooked red bill that has tooth- like lamellae along its cutting edges, enabling a better grip of its main prey, fish (Mullarney et al. 1999). It obtains its food by diving from the water’s surface, swimming with its head underwater until it detects prey, which it pursues underwater (Kear 2005). It is a partial migrant, with birds moving away from areas where rivers and major lakes freeze in the winter, but resident where waters remain open. Northern breeding populations are fully

Soumen Roy Chowdhury Roy Soumen migratory (Snow & Perrins 1998) although breeders in temperate 234. Asian Desert Warbler in Lava, West Bengal. regions are sedentary or only travel short distances (del Hoyo et Correspondence 183

al. 1992; Scott & Rose 1996). Outside of its breeding season Curious to know what they had bagged they took it to my old the species is typically found in small parties, with groups of up friend, Aziz Mian, a scion of the erstwhile royal family of Tonk and to 70 individuals feeding together on shoals of fish during winter veteran shikari, who identified it as a male Common Merganser. (Kear 2005). However, for confirmation he sent the images of the dead bird to It is a winter visitor to the Indian Subcontinent, rare in north- me, which I confirmed. At my behest Aziz Mian noted the features western India and Nepal, and fairly common in the Himalayan of the specimen; extent of black on mantle, grey on lower back foothills. Ali & Ripley (1978) stated that the nominate race has and rump, and colour of underparts. He was of the opinion that been taken in winter in Sind, the Makran coast, Uttar Pradesh, the specimen was the Central Asian comatus (=orientalis). Mumbai, Raipur, and north-eastern Assam, but the status of the two races is uncertain within the Indian Subcontinent. There are Status in Rajasthan and Chambal Valley two recent records from (Rahi et al. 2014). A Common Merganser pair was sighted by local people who Though it has not been reported from Rajasthan in any had gone fishing to Isarda Dam (26.10°N, 76.00°E) in Tonk contemporary work (Ali & Ripley 1978; Grimmett et al. 1998 District, Rajasthan, on 31 December 2017. They fired a shotgun & 2011; Kazmierczak 2000; Rasmussen & Anderton 2005, on the pair and killed the male (most of the red in the bill 2012), the sighting and killing of the bird at Isarda Dam did not changed to black after death) [236]. surprise me as the Central Asian comatus breeding in Tibet, the Himalayas, Altai, and Afghanistan, mostly resident, winters inland ‘as far south as the Godaveri’ River (Dewar 1923), and the mouth of and its tributaries (Roberts 1991) including rivers of northern India and Myanmar (Madge & Burn 1988). A bird was shot in ‘December last [=1877]’ Ajmer. Hume (1878) mentions that, ‘in December last Captain O'Moore Creagh shot a fine male Merganser or Goosander (Mergus castor) near Ajmere [=Ajmer].’ This was subsequently recorded, as such, but without the date by Oates (1899), Salvadori (1895), and Baker (1921). However, there seems to be no specific record of this bird in later works. Even Baker (1929: 472–473) states that in winter it occurs on ‘the plains immediately adjacent’ [=north India]. Thereafter, the trail runs dry and later works miss out the Ajmer record. I have not been able to trace a reason for this. Moreover, during the inaugural angling competition at Bisalpur

Aziz Mian Dam, Tonk District, a local shikari informed me that a small flock 236. Common Merganser male shot in Tonk, Rajasthan. of eight to ten birds was sighted at Gehlod Ghat, Banas River, in

Records of Common Merganser from S. No. Site/Locality State Year Reference Remarks 1 Chybassa [=Chaibasa] Jharkhand Blyth (1842); Jerdon (1864) Procured by Tickell; probably on the Roro River. 2 Barackpur [=Barakkur] West Bengal ~1869 Parker (1874) A male shot by Robert Campbell and seen by Parker from a ‘great many, some hundreds’ from a large lake ‘7 miles’ from ‘Barakkur’ on the Grand Trunk Road. 3 Sambalpur Odisha Pre-1873 Hume (1873) About nine specimens in the collections of F. R. Blewitt; probably from Mahanadi River 4 Arang, Raipur Chattisgarh Pre-1874 Ball (1874), Salvadori (1895) On Mahanadi River and part of Hume’s collection in the NHM, London 5 Sirguja Chattisgarh Pre-1874 Ball (1874) On the Rihand [=Rer] River, seen by V. Ball. 6 Palamu [=Palamow] Jharkhand Pre-1874 Ball (1874) A specimen shot by Captain Money, which V. Ball felt does not accord well with Jerdon’s description. 7 [=Bankurah] West Bengal Pre-1878 Ball (1878) Probably on Dwarakeswar River. 8 Bardhaman [=Bardwan] West Bengal Pre-1878 Ball (1878) Probably the dozen to 30 individuals seen by Ball (1874) on the . 9 Manbhum Jharkhand Pre-1878 Ball (1878) Probably the dozen to 30 individuals seen by Ball (1874) on the Subarnarekha River. 10 Lohardaga [=Lohardugga] Jharkhand Pre-1878 Ball (1878) Probably on Koel River. 11 West Bengal Pre-1881 Hume & Marshall (1881) Probably the dozen to 30 individuals seen by Ball (1874) on the Subarnarekha River. 12 Dehri [=Dehree-on-Sone] Bihar Pre-1881 Hume & Marshall (1881) Attributed to E. Stewart, C.S. and W. Forsyth on the Sone river. 13 Jamtara Jharkhand Pre-1881 Hume & Marshall (1881) Attributed to Brooks. Probably from , c. 251 km from Kolkata on the East India railway line. 14 Ib River (a tributary of Odisha 1958 Abdulali (1968) Ruler of Gangapur shot one from a flock of 15 birds on the Ib, a tributary of Mahanadi) Mahanadi. 184 Indian Birds Vol. 15 No. 6 (Publ. 15 June 2020)

early December 2017. He promised to inform me in case the Blyth, E., 1842. [“The Curator read his Report for the month of April 1842…”]. Journal flock was located again. Unfortunately, he did not see the flock of the Asiatic Society of Bengal XI (Part I No 125 New Series No 41): 444–470. again at the site. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., (eds.) 1992. Handbook of the birds of the world. Further downstream, after the Banas River joins the Chambal Volume 1. Ostrich to Ducks. 1st ed. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Vol. 1 of 17 vols. Pp. 1–696. River, there are a couple of records from Chambal Wildlife Dewar, D., 1923. The common birds of India. Calcutta: Thacker Spink. Vol. 1 Pp. i–viii, Sanctuary, Dholpur District, Rajasthan: of two on 08 December 1–44. 2010 (Guy 2010), and one on 14 February 2005 (Prince 2005). Dreyer, N. P., 2011. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S9338520. [Accessed on Six further records support this, from along the Chambal River, 15 October 2019.] Agra District, Uttar Pradesh, during the 2005–2011 period (Gast Ganpule, P., 2017. First update to the Gujarat checklist: December 2017. Flamingo 15 2005; Lamb 2005; Martin 2005; Surya 2009; Hochgraf 2010; (4): 17–20. Dreyer 2011; Jannes 2011). Thus, this species winters along the Gast, S., 2005. Website URL: https://ebird.org/tx/checklist/S37257491. [Accessed on 15 Chambal River and its tributaries in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. October 2019.] Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1998. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 1st ed. London: Christopher Helm, A & C Black. Pp. 1–888. Status in western India Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. There is also an old record from Kachchh, Gujarat, wherein Grimmett, R., Roberts, T., & Inskipp, T., 2008. Birds of Pakistan. 1st ed. London & New Stoliczaka (1872) was ‘tolerably certain’ that he found this Haven: Christopher Helm & Yale University Press. Pp. 1–256. species at a ‘large lake near Dinodhar hill or a lake southwest of Guy, S., 2010. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S59614127. [Accessed on 15 Charvar range.’ Ganpule (2017) accepts this report as the first for October 2019.] Gujarat despite it being devoid of details. E. H. Aitken shot one Hochgraf, S., 2010. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S52481127. [Accessed on 15 individual in Shewa, just across the Mumbai [=Bombay] Harbour October 2019.] in 1886. However, the latter’s correct identity, contra Red-breasted Hume, A. O., & Marshall, C. H. T., 1881. The game birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon. Merganser M. serrator was debated (see Oates 1899) while Baker 1st ed. Calcutta: Published by the authors. Vol. III of 3 vols. Pp. i–ii, 1–438, i–vi. Hume, A. O., 1878. Notes: [= “In December last Captain O’Moore Creagh shot a fine (1921) discounted Oates’ doubts, but gave no reason for doing male Merganser or Goosander (Mergus castor) near Ajmere...”]. Stray Feathers 7 so. Prasad (2004) quoted Abdulali (1981) who listed it only as (1-2): 149. Mergus sp. Recent records of Red-breasted Merganser from the Jannes, H., 2011. Tigers and birds of Bandavgarh. 6–17 February 2011. Tour Report. Mumbai region additionally cast doubt over this old record. Apart Unpublished. from these two uncertain records, there are no other claims from Jerdon, T. C., 1864. The game birds and wildfowl of India; being descriptions of all the western India (www.orientalbirdimages.org). species of game birds, snipe, and duck found in India, with an account of their habits and geographical distribution. Calcutta: Published by the author. Pp. 1–197. Kazmierczak, K., 2000. A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Status in Chota Nagpur Plateau south of the Ganga Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. 1st ed. New Delhi: Om Book Service. Pp. River 1–352. Kear, J., (ed.) 2005. Ducks, geese and swans. 1st ed. Bird families of the world (Series). Apart from this region, it has been reported/procured at least Perrins, C. M., Bock, W. J., & Kikkawa, J., (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 14 times from the eastern parts of peninsular India—in the Vol. 2 of 2 vols. Pp. i–viii, 447–908. Chota Nagpur plateau region: these sites now form the states Lamb, R., 2005. Website URL: https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S41858985. [Accessed of Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh on 15 October 2019.] (Table 1). Surprisingly, very few of these nineteenth century Madge, S., & Burn, H., 1988. Waterfowl: An identification guide to the ducks, geese and records have made it into the maps of contemporary works like swans of the world. 1st ed. London: Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–298. Grimmett et al. (2011), and Rasmussen & Anderton (2012), and Martin, J., 2005. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S43257887. [Accessed on 15 I take this opportunity to provide fuller details of all such historical October 2019.] Mullarney, K., Svensson, L., Zetterstrom, D., & Grant, P., 1999. Collins Bird Guide. Collins. records. It is surprising that there has been only one twentieth ISBN 0-00-219728-6 century record from this region since then and one recent record Naidu, R., 2019. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checlist/S62319825. from Chapgoan (20.58°N, 81.51°E), Chhattisgarh, of a single on Oates, E. W., 1899. A manual of the game birds of India: water birds. 1st ed. Bombay: 14 December 2019 in the twenty-first century (Naidu 2019). Published for the author by Messrs. A.J. Combridge & Co. Vol. II of 2 vols. Pp. i–vi, 1–506. Parker, J. C., 1874. Letters to the Editor. [“870. - Gallinago stenura. - Mr. G.F.L. Marshall, References in No. 5 of Stray Feathers), correctly states...”]. Stray Feathers 2 (1,2&3): 335–336. Abdulali, H., 1968. A catalogue of the birds in the collection of the Bombay Natural Prasad, A., 2004. Annotated checklist of the birds of Western Maharashtra. Buceros 8 History Society-2. Anseriformes. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (2&3): i–ii, 1–174 (2003). 65 (2): 418–430. Prince, M., 2005. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S19421876. [Accessed on 15 Abdulali, H., 1981. Checklist of the birds of Maharashtra with notes on their status October 2019.] around Bombay. 2nd ed. Bombay: Bombay Natural History Society. Pp. i–ii, Rahi, R. H., Al Hosen, M. H., & Rashid, S. M. A., 2014. First photographic record of 1–16+2. Common Merganser Mergus merganser in Bangladesh. BirdingASIA 21: 119. Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1978. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2005. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 1st ed. with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Divers to hawks. 2nd Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. (Hardback) ed. Delhi (Sponsored by Bombay Natural History Society.) Oxford Pp. 1–378; 1–683. University Press. Vol. 1 of 10 vols. Pp. i–lviii, 1–382. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Baker, E. C. S., 1921. The game-birds of India, Burma and Ceylon: Ducks and their Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. allies (swans, geese and ducks). 2nd ed. London: Bombay Natural History Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Society. Vol. I of 3 vols. Pp. i–xvi, 1–340. Roberts, T. J., 1991. The birds of Pakistan: Regional Studies and non-passeriformes. 1st Baker, E. C. S., 1929. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. ed. Karachi: Oxford University Press. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Pp. i–xli, 1–598. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis. Vol. VI of 8 vols. Pp. i–xxxv+1, 1–499+1. Salvadori, T., 1895. Catalogue of the Chenomorphæ (Palamedeæ, Phoenicopteri, Ball, V., 1874. On the avifauna of the Chutia (Chota) Nagpur Division, S. W. frontier of Anseres), Crypturi, and Ratitæ in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Bengal. Stray Feathers 2 (4&5): 355–440. British Museum of Natural History. Vol. XXVII of 27 vols. Pp. i–xv, 1–636. Correspondence 185

Scott, D. A., & Rose, P. M., 1996. Atlas of Anatidae populations in Africa and Western Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus in Kaziranga Eurasia. Wetlands International Publication No. 41. Wetlands International, National Park, Assam Wageningen, The Netherlands. Snow, D. W., & Perrins, C. M., 1998. The birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise On 23rd December 2019, at 1500 h I saw a solitary Tundra Swan Edition): Volume 1. Non-. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Cygnus colombianus in Daphlong (26.60°N, 93.20°E) in Stoliczka, F., 1872. Notice of the Mammals and Birds inhabiting Kachh. Journal of the the central range of Kaziranga National Park, Assam. On the same Asiatic Society of Bengal XLI (Part II No III): 211–258. day, Bablu, Takib, Parag Hazarika, and Pallab Saikia also saw it. Surya, G., 2009. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S33596971. [Accessed on 15 Next day it attracted more birders and was photographed [238]. October 2019.] It was initially thought to be a Whooper Swan C. cygnus but – Harkirat Singh Sangha B-27, Gautam Marg, Hanuman Nagar, Jaipur 302021 Rajasthan, India. when the images were circulated over social media, the correct E-mail: [email protected] identification as Tundra Swan (the Eurasian racebewickii ) got established. The key identifiers were: yellow bill patch was not A dark colour-aberrant Grey Francolin Francolinus pointed or triangular as in a Whooper, the head was rounded pondicerianus unlike flattened and triangular in a Whooper, and the neck was relatively short. The bird stayed for four weeks, which enabled On 05 December 2019, BV was on one of his routine birding trips birdwatchers from around the country to visit and see this rarity. It along the beaches of Chennai specifically looking for shore- and was last it recorded on 26 January 2020. Most of the time it was seabirds. He noticed two unusually dark-coloured Grey Francolins spotted in Daphlong Beel, and also in Donga Beel in the western Francolinus pondicerianus on Thiruvanmiyur Beach (12.97ºN, range of Kaziranga National Park. 80.26ºE). These birds looked almost black [237]. The birds ran into the bushes and disappeared while he barely managed to take a photograph. Harish Thangaraj Harish

238. Tundra Swan in Kaziranga National Park, Assam.

The Tundra Swan is a rarity in India. There are two documented historical specimens: A bewickii subspecies from Haryana, and a jankowskyi subspecies (not always recognised) from Gujarat (Praveen et al. 2014). A photograph of a swan taken in Gandhigram, Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh, in December 2008 was believed to be this species. Two sight records of flocks of swans from the same area, in 1998 and 1999, though claimed to be Whoopers, could also have been

B. VinothB. this species (see Praveen et al. 2014 for details of all past records 237. Dark morph of the Grey Francolin in Chennai. of swans from India). Mahabal et al. (2016) mention one instance of a dark- coloured Grey Francolin reported from Surendranagar of Gujarat References in 2010 (Roy 2011). Ours might be the first instance of this Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2014. Notes on Indian rarities—2: Waterfowl, diving colour aberration in Grey Francolin from southern India. waterbirds, and gulls and terns. Indian BIRDS 9 (5&6): 113–136 – Bumoni Phokan Village: Bosagaon, P.O. Diring Chariali, District Golaghat 785609, Assam, India. Reference E-mail: [email protected] Mahabal, A., van Grouw, H., Sharma, R. M., & Thakur, S., 2016. How common is albinism really? Colour aberrations in Indian birds reviewed. Dutch Birding 38: Gould’s Shortwing Heteroxenicus stellatus and 301–309. Roy, A., 2011. Sighting of a rare dark morph of Grey Francolin Francolinus Chestnut-crowned Bush Warbler Cettia major in the pondicerianus Gmelin 1789 near Surendranagar, Gujarat, India. Journal of the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh Bombay Natural History Society 107 (3): 249–250 (2010). On 15 June 2019, at 0915 h, while birding in the Great Himalayan National Park (henceforth, GHNP) in Kullu District, Himachal – B. Vinoth, R. J. Ranjit Daniels & A. Veeramani B. Vinoth, Care Earth Trust, No 3, 6th Street, Thillaiganganagar, Pradesh, at 3,500 m asl, two kilometers from Gumtrao, on the Chennai 600061, Tamil Nadu, India. trail from Gumtrao to Dhel (31.72°N 77.48°E), we observed one R. J. Ranjit Daniels, Care Earth Trust, No 3, 6th Street, Thillaiganganagar, adult male Gould’s Shortwing Heteroxenicus stellate, and two Chennai 600061, Tamil Nadu, India. A. Veeramani, Department of Zoology, Government Arts College, Chestnut-crowned Bush Warblers Cettia major. The two species Kumbakonam, 612002, Tamil Nadu, India. were sighted c.100 m away from each other.