Bishop, K David

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AN EXTREME EXAMPLE OF AGGRESSION DISPLAYED BY THE GREATER RACKET-TAILED DRONGO by Anne D. Nash and Stephen V. Nash . On January 7, 1985, on the western edge of the Padang-Sugihan. Wildlife Reserve. South Sumatra Province, two Great Hornbills Buceros bicornis were attacked by a Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus while flying over the Padang River. The drongo dived at one of the hornbills, then on the second dive landed on the lower back of the same hornbill, and remained for three or four seconds. The attacked hornbill tried to shake off the drongo, by twisting its body. The drongo left the hornbill, and returned to its territory on the east side of the river, and the hornbills continued westward. The hornbills were calling continuously throughout the attack. The genus Dicrurus Is well known for its aggressive behavior, but this incident appears to be the first observed occasion of actually landing on another bird in flight to continue an attack. Anne D. Nash Stephen V. Nash c/o The World Wildlife Fund. P.O. Box 133, Bogor. Indonesia SCARLET-HEADED FLOWERPECKER D1CAEUM TROCHILEUM; A NEW BIRD FOR SUMATRA by K. D. Bishop The Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker is represented by two distinct populations: the nominate subspecies D.t. trochileum southern Kalimantan (Smythies 1960) and Java, Bali and the Kangean Islands (Salomonsen 1967) and Stresemanni on Lornbok in the Lesser Sundas (Salomonsen 1967). On Java and Bali it is widespread from sea level to about 1500m (Hoogerwerf 1948), It is frequently observed in urban gardens and I have occasionally seen It feeding in the centre of Jakarta city: elsewhere it is a common Inhabitant of open woodland and lightly wooded cultivation. It is not normally found in forest (Bishop pers obs). On 25 July 1983 a single male Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker was observed singing loudly from the crown, about 5m above the ground, in a half-hectare remnant patch of Rhizophora mangroves, on the southern tip of Sumatra on the west side of Lampung Bay. about 20km south-west of Tanjung Karang (105° 16' E, 5°26' S). The male Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker is strikingly beautiful and readily identifiable. Its entire head, neck, chin, throat, mantle and rump-are brilliant scarlet red. This contrasts dramatically with its jet black wings and charcoal grey underparts. The bill is noticeably thin and black extending as a line to the eye which is also dark.This record supports two previously undocumented observations briefly mentioned in Holmes (1977). D.A.Holmes (pers comm) on 30 May 1976 noted a possible male flying over Camp D in the Way Kambas nature reserve, Lampung province, and later on 7 August observed a probable second male late in the afternoon on the east side of Lampung Bay, It 7 is interesting to note that the second bird was initially seen flying out from the beach towards an offshore island but was apparently forced to return because of strong headwinds. P.Andrew (pers comm) made further observations of this species on 24 April 1984 when 3 birds were observed in a coastal park comprising cleared mangrove, scrub and grass about 30km south of Tanjung Karang. These records are the first documented sightings of this species on the island of Sumatra, The distance between Sumatra and Java is not more than 25km at the narrowest point and may pose no great problem for this species to cross, assuming that it is a recent colonist from Java. The records suggest that it is resident in Lampung province. Alternatively it might have been always a resident, along with some other Javanese elements in the southernmost tip of Sumatra. As lowland forest continues to be cleared, it will be interesting to note whether this species expands from its apparently local present distribution and colonizes further areas northwards, as has occurred for example with the Golden-headed Cisticola Cisticola exilis in Jambi province (Harvey & Holmes 1976). REFERENCES Harvey, W.G. & D.A. Holmes. 1976. Additions to the avifaunas of Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia. Bull. Brid. Orn. Cl. 96(3): 90-92. Holmes, D.A. 1977. Faunistic notes and further additions to the Sumatran avifauna. Bull Brit. Om. Cl. 97 (2): 68-71. Hoogerwerf. A. 1948. Contribution to the knowledge of the distribution of birds on the island of Java. Treubia 19(2): 83-137 Salomonsen, F. 1967. Family Dicaeidae (in) Paynter R.A. Jr. Checklist of Birds of the World. 12. 199-200. Mus. of Comp. Zool, Cambridge. Massachusetts. Smythies, B.E. 1960. The Birds of Borneo. Edinburg. Oliver & Boyd. Acknowledgments I am most grateful to Derek Holmes and Paul Andrew for freely contributing their previously unpublished records. I should also like to thank Dr. Somadikarta and Dr. Mees for their helpful comments on the manuscript. 8 

Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker Dicaeum trochileum a new bird for Sumatra

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Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker Dicaeum trochileum a new bird for Sumatra

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