

-279 



THE MESOPOTAMIxVN BULBUL. 

 By 



Clauu B, Ticehurst, Capt., r.a.m.c. 



On November 20th, 1917, whilst ou a short visit to Basra, I found a 

 White-eared Bulbul very common, in fact, as in Sind, it is one of the com- 

 monest and most familiar birds. Thinking it was the same as the Indian 

 species I only secured one example. On returning to Karachi I was 

 surprised to find on comparison that the Basra bird was distinctly difl'erent. 

 On returning to Basra again this year in March I secured seven more 

 specimens all similar to my original one. So far as 1 can find out, this 

 Basra Bulbul has never been described or named and I therefore propose 

 to name it. 



Pycnonotus leucotis mesopotamia. Subsp. nov. 



Diagnosis. Resembles 'Pifcnonotim leucutis k-ucotis but is rather larger, 

 with a longer wing and tail, larger and stouter bill and has dark grey 

 instead of whitish grey underparts (breast, belly and flanks) and a yelloio 

 fleshy orbicular margin to the eyelid instead of black. 



Measurements. — (S wing. 90-9o, av. 91-6, tail, 90-93, (once 96). av. 



91-9 mm. 

 2 wing. 87-89, av. 87-7o, tail 8o-89, av. 87-2. 

 Total length from tip of bill to tip of tail : S 191-198, 5 185-195. 



Type locality, Basra, Lower Mesopotamia. 



Type specimen No. 149. Basra in coll. O.B. Ticehurst. Nov. 20, 1917. 



The type locality of Pycnonotus'^ leucotis= Ixos leucotis of Gould 

 (P. Z. S. 18u6) is given as " In India orientali," Hitherto no races of this 

 species have been described, but as mesopotamia is obviously a racial 

 form and a very marked one it seems desirable to fix a restricted type 

 locality for typical leucotis. This at present I am unable to do, not having 

 access to Gould's paper. 



Distn/mtioH. — Lower Mesopotamia, Persia (Shustar in the west and Maud 

 in the extreme east of Persian Baluchistan (26° 7'N 62°3'E). 



How far west this race occurs I do not at present know, but the bound- 

 ary of Persian and British Baluchistan is probably somewhere near its 

 eastern limit. I have seen typical leucotis from Bhani, 132 miles S.S.W. 

 of Kelat in British Baluchistan which is not unexpected, as Bhani is not 

 more than 100 miles from the Sind boundary. One specimen from Char- 

 harbar in the Gulf of Oman is puzzling, sexed a female it has a wing of 

 88mm which corresponds well with mesopotamia but it is paler underneath 

 than any of the latter I have ever seen ; the colour of the eyelid could 

 not in the dried skin be ascertained. 



Hume who, during his trip to Muscat in 1872, w^ent ashore collecting 

 at Korebut, Pasni and Gwader remarked that the White-eared Bubul 

 was common along the Mekran coast as far as Gwader. One cannot say 

 without exaiuining his specimens which race his Mekran birds belong to, 

 but it seems likely that they were leucotis or surely he would have 

 remarked upon the yellow eye lid and darker plumage. He gives measure- 

 ments of one bird " measured at random" as, total length 8" (=203 mm.), 



This must have been 

 given it does not 



tail from vent 3-5 "(=89 ram.), wing 3-7" (= 94 mm.) 

 a truly giant leucotis, but since no locality for it is 



help (it may have even come from India) which only shows one cannot be 

 too careful in points of accuracy. Suffice it to say I have seen no Indian 

 leucotis as large as this. Oates in the "' Fauna" gives — total length 7*5" 

 (=190 mm.), tail 3-4" (=86-5 mm.), wing 8-5" (=89 mm.), which I should 



