We collected excretions from two crow species (Corvus macrorhynchos & C. corone), that were dropped on the road around tea bushes or citrus plantations at Udo hill, Shizuoka Prefecture from August to October 2003. The excretions often contained many Mallotus japonicus seeds. In order to clarify the diet of the crows and the digestive condition of the seeds, the excretions were collected periodically and their contents examined. Within the 283 excreta samples collected, 16 plant species were identified, of which M. japonicus seeds were by far the numerically dominant component. However, the crows also fed frequently on other plant fruits and insects. M. japonicus seeds have a thin outer seed coat that contains lipid. Presumably, because the edible parts per seed are small, crows need to consume many M. japonicus seeds to obtain significant amounts of lipid and nutrients. Depending on the combinations of three types of outer seed coat, the degree of digestion was different among the excretions. The seeds in those excretions containing insect fragments were well digested, whereas the seeds mixed with parts of other fruits were less digested. In the process of digestion, the hard chitinous insect parts would abrade or fracture the outer seed coat and promote digestion. Indigested seeds had the edible parts remaining, and these seeds were eaten or transferred by ants from several excretions. The indigested seeds in the crow excretions might be important for secondary dispersal of M japonicus.

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Counts of migrating Blue-tailed Bee-eaters Merops philippinus and Bluethroated Bee-eaters M. viridis, were made in March 2000 and 2001 at Tanjung Tuan, a coastal migration watchsite in western Malaysia. A total of 2, 226 bee-eaters of these two species (12.9 bee-eaters/hour) was counted on 26 days of observation in these two seasons. The Blue-tailed Bee-eater comprised 60.8% (1, 353 birds) of bee-eaters that could be identified, whereas the Blue-throated Bee-eater was much less abundant, comprising 10.0% of the individuals (222). Significantly more bee-eaters were counted when winds had a westerly component (NW, W or SW) than when winds were from other directions. Bee-eater migration is a regular and predictable event at Tanjung Tuan each spring, leading us to recommend that additional spring counts be made at this Southeast Asian migration watchsite.

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A radio-tagged Japanese Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos japonica) released in northern Honshu (Japan) after rescue and rehabilitation by humans was tracked. This individual was a female fledgling rescued due to emaciation in Ohno Village, Iwate Prefecture on 30 June 2002, and was released in its natal site on 8 August after rehabilitation in a nursing facility. Tracking was made almost everyday. The location of the individual was estimated by triangulation from two or more points, and confirmed visually when possible. After the release, the eagle stayed near the release point until 15 August, and moved to a mountainous area 8.1km west of the release point. On 21 August, it moved north for 2.1km, and the next day it disappeared with the departure in a northerly direction. The individual was recaptured at Fukaura Town, Aomori Prefecture, 152km from the release point on 8 October 2002. It flushed by itself when it was released soon after the recapture, but was found in a carcass near the second release point on 11 November. These tracks show the first case of long-distance movement of the Japanese Golden Eagle, suggesting that juvenile eagles are distant dispersers.

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This paper describes the seasonal migration of the Bush Warbler Cettia diphone, at a coastal forest in Niigata City, Central Japan, based on the results of long-term banding. Over a 14-year period, 1988-2001, a total of 1, 959 birds (810 males and 1, 149 females) were banded in the spring (early April to middle May). Spring migrants showed a tendency towards a female-biased sex ratio (58.6±6.1%) and a sex-biased time lag; i. e., the males tended to migrate earlier than the females. In the autumns of the same 14-year period, a total of 7, 860 birds (4, 201 males and 3, 659 females), about four times more birds than were captured in the spring, were banded; and the major peaks of migration were seen in late October and early November. The number of males and females changed similarly, and no sex-biased time lag was recognized in the autumn migration. The recovery data suggest that the study area constitutes a pivotal location for migrating flyways of the Bush Warbler in Japan.

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Eight nesting males of the Gray-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus captured a total of 295 prey items in the study site during the breeding seasons from 1999-2002. Of these prey items, 142 were transported to their chicks and mates, and 153 were consumed by the males themselves. The difference in prey species between the two categories was not significant. In prey groups, however, the males carried significantly more voles and mice to their nests than they consumed themselves, whereas they themselves consumed more insects than they carried to their nests. Captured voles and mice were transported greater distances to the nests than were lizards and frogs.

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One to five Magpies were observed in 1984, and almost every year from 1992, in Muroran, Noboribetsu, Shiraoi and Tomakomai, Iburi District, south-western Hokkaido. They nested in 1993 and 1994 in Muroran, in 1998 and 2000 in Noboribetsu, and in 1996 and 1998 in Shiraoi. In Wanishi, Muroran, two young with an adult were observed in the summer of 1993, strongly suggesting that they bred there. Based on these observation records, the Magpie is considered to be resident in this area.

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A single male Pied Harrier Circus melanoleucos was observed on 18 August 1996 in grassland at Atsuma, southeastern Hokkaido. This is only the fourth record of this species from Hokkaido.

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We report two records of the Japanese Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume in the breeding season. 1) On 21 April 2003, one adult was observed about 1km offshore of Uchiura Bay, Amatsu-Kominato. 2) On 23 May 2003, two adults and one chick were observed about 2km offshore of Katsuura Bay, Katsuura. This is the first observation record of a chick with adults on the sea around Chiba Prefecture.

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We report a case of brood parasitism to the Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni by the Horsfield's Hawk Cuckoo Cuculus fugax on Mount Fuji in Japan. The hawk cuckoo lays its eggs, mainly in the nests of the Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana, Siberian Blue Robin Luscinia cyane and Red-flanked Bushrobin Tarsiger cyanurus. There has been only one clear report that the Olive-backed Pipit was parasitized by the hawk-cuckoo. Our report is a presumable second case.

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