Full Issue

Abstract

—Lord Howe Island, situated 790 km north-east of Sydney in the Tasman Sea, was first observed on 17 February 1788, making it one of the last islands to be discovered by Europeans. An endemic gallinule, pigeon and parakeet were quickly hunted to extinction, but habitat alterations were minimal; therefore a diverse forest bird fauna remained intact. The accidental introduction of Black Rats Rattus rattus in 1918 and barn owls (Tyto) in the 1920s resulted in another wave of bird extinctions, but several endemics survive including a flightless rail. Seabird diversity is also high and they still breed in large numbers, although rat predation is an ongoing problem. I present the results of a recent palaeontological and ornithological survey of Lord Howe Island, highlighting fossil discoveries and conservation successes, and also discuss the pros and cons of plans to eradicate rats entirely from the island in 2019. Biography.—Julian Hume has travelled widely in search of avian palaeontological deposits, especially in the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues, on Madagascar and in Hawaii. More recently, he has turned his attention to islands off the Australian coast and he spoke to the Club in early 2017 on his research into the dwarf emus Dromaius spp. of the South Australian islands. By profession he is an artist specialising in extinct birds, but also has a Ph.D. in avian palaeontology and is a Scientific Associate of the Natural History Museum, Tring. He has written a number of books and published many papers on birds and their fossil history, his most recent book being the second edition of the widely acclaimed Extinct birds. Monday 16 September 2019—6.30 pm—Pat Morris—The Hastings Rarities: taking the long view. Note change in date compared to previous announcement. Abstract.—It is now more than 50 years since hundreds of bird records were dismissed as potentially fraudulent on the grounds that it was unlikely that so many rare species would turn up within a short period of time and a limited area around Hastings. Statistical analysis confirmed a significant difference between the numbers of records in that area and time compared to other areas of Kent / Sussex and with later periods. In ornithological terms it makes limited difference, as most of the suspect species have been found subsequently in that area. It has long been widely accepted that fraud occurred and that a local taxidermist, George Bristow, was responsible for perpetrating this. Bristow was unable to defend himself, having died, and the taxidermy profession was besmirched. Although protests were made at the time the issue appears closed. However, worrying doubts remain when the evidence is examined closely. Equally, in retrospect there may be further evidence to confirm Bristow’s guilt. A colleague, Philip Redman, has also been studying details of the Hastings affair, and may hopefully be able to join us from Paris.—It is now more than 50 years since hundreds of bird records were dismissed as potentially fraudulent on the grounds that it was unlikely that so many rare species would turn up within a short period of time and a limited area around Hastings. Statistical analysis confirmed a significant difference between the numbers of records in that area and time compared to other areas of Kent / Sussex and with later periods. In ornithological terms it makes limited difference, as most of the suspect species have been found subsequently in that area. It has long been widely accepted that fraud occurred and that a local taxidermist, George Bristow, was responsible for perpetrating this. Bristow was unable to defend himself, having died, and the taxidermy profession was besmirched. Although protests were made at the time the issue appears closed. However, worrying doubts remain when the evidence is examined closely. Equally, in retrospect there may be further evidence to confirm Bristow’s guilt. A colleague, Philip Redman, has also been studying details of the Hastings affair, and may hopefully be able to join us from Paris. Biography.—Dr Pat Morris was Senior Lecturer in Zoology at Royal Holloway, Univ. of London, and well known for his studies of mammal ecology. He is a past Chairman of the Mammal Society, a former Council Member of the National Trust, and has published >70 scientific papers and c.20 books. A consultant to several major publishers and the BBC Natural History Unit, in his spare time he has pursued a long-standing interest in the history of taxidermy and was appointed the first Hon. Life Member of the Guild of Taxidermists. He was awarded the Founder’s Medal by the Society for the History of Natural History and made MBE in the 2015 Honours List ‘for services to the natural and historic environment’. In addition the Club will be holding a one-day joint conference with the Neotropical Bird Club on 26 October 2019 in the Flett Theatre of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London. Attendance is open to all and entrance is free. The conference will include a range of talks on Neotropical ornithology and full details of the programme will appear on the Club’s website and here in due course. Club Announcements 7 Bull. B.O.C. 2019 139(1) © 2019 The Authors; This is an open‐access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ISSN-2513-9894 (Online) Friends of the BOC The BOC has from 2017 become an online organisation without a paying membership, but instead one that aspires to a supportive network of Friends who share its vision of ornithology—see: http://boc-online.org/. Anyone wishing to become a Friend of the BOC and support its development should pay UK£25.00 by standing order or online payment to the BOC bank account: Barclays Bank, 16 High Street, Holt, NR25 6BQ, Norfolk Sort Code: 20-45-45 Account number: 53092003 Account name: The British Ornithologists’ Club Friends receive regular updates about Club events and are also eligible for discounts on the Club’s Occasional Publications. It would assist our Treasurer, Richard Malin (e-mail: [email protected]), if you would kindly inform him if you intend becoming a Friend of the BOC. The Bulletin and other BOC publications From volume 137 (2017), the Bulletin of the BOC has become an online journal, published quarterly, that is available to all readers without charge. Furthermore, it does not levy any publication charges (including for colour plates) on authors of papers and has a median publication time from receipt to publication of six months. Prospective authors are invited to contact the Bulletin editor, Guy Kirwan ([email protected]), to discuss future submissions or look at http://boc-online.org/bulletin/bulletin-contributions. Back numbers up to volume 132 (2012) are available via the Biodiversity Heritage Library website: www.biodiversitylibrary. org/bibliography/46639#/summary; vols. 132–136 are available on the BOC website: http://boc-online.org/ BOC Occasional Publications are available from the BOC Office or online at [email protected]. Future BOC-published checklists will be available from NHBS and as advised on the BOC website. As its online repository, the BOC uses the British Library Online Archive (in accordance with IZCN 1999, Art. 8.5.3.1). Eric R. Gulson-Castillo et al. 8 Bull. B.O.C. 2019 139(1) © 2019 The Authors; This is an open‐access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ISSN-2513-9894 (Online) Notes on nesting, territoriality and behaviour of broadbills (Eurylaimidae, Calyptomenidae) and pittas (Pittidae) in Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo by Eric R. Gulson-Castillo, Teresa M. Pegan, Emma I. Greig, Justin M. Hite, Jack P. Hruska, Julian A. Kapoor, Sophia C. Orzechowski, J. Ryan Shipley & David W. Winkler Received 3 August 2018; revised 21 January 2019; published 15 March 2019 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:510F5743-6D99-4097-AD89-8922B0030011 Summary.—Basic natural history and behavioural data are lacking for the majority of broadbills and pittas (Eurylaimidae, Calyptomenidae and Pittidae). We present a series of observations on these birds made during two visits to Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, Malaysia. During this period, we detected changes in temporal presence, detectability or vocal behaviour in various species. We also found habitat overlap on one ridgeline among four species of pitta. We observed a Green Broadbill Calyptomena viridis respond to our imitation of a call with a wing display. We discuss the social behaviour of Black-and-yellow Eurylaimus ochromalus and Banded Broadbills E. javanicus, including wing displays, territoriality, and in the firstnamed species, social groups comprising multiple adults. We also describe various nesting behaviours in these two species, including nest-construction techniques, incubation behaviour, nest defence, and the first described Banded Broadbill nest on Borneo. We found Dusky Broadbills Corydon sumatranus to frequently be the most conspicuous members of mixed-species flocks otherwise dominated by Cuculidae and Picidae. We analysed Black-crowned Pitta Erythropitta ussheri home range size and density in a colour-banded population, and found a potential hybrid or backcross with Garnet Pitta E. granatina. We observed that Blue-banded Pitta E. arquata make non-vocal sonations by striking their closed wings on their flanks, and discuss the immature male plumage of Blue-headed Pitta Hydrornis baudii. The Old World suboscines, or Eurylaimides, are a passerine radiation that reach their highest diversity in South-East Asia. Within this region, the island of Borneo is home to three species of Calyptomenidae,