MOLPASTES. 177 



six feet from the ground, and is placed either in a thick bush or in 

 the outer twigs of a low bough of a tree." 



The eggs are of the regular Bulbul type, as exemplified in those 

 of Molpastes hamorrhous, and vary much in colour, size, and shape. 

 Typically they are rather a long oval, somewhat pointed at one end, 

 have a pinkish or reddish-white ground with little or no gloss, and 

 are thickly speckled, frecided, streaked, or blotched, as the case 

 may be, with blood-, brownish-, or purplish-red, &c., and here and 

 there, chiefly towards the large end, exhibit, besides these primary 

 markings, tiny underlying spots and clouds of pale inky purple. 

 Some eggs have a pretty well-marked zone or irregular cap at the 

 large end, but this is not very common. In size they average 

 somewhat larger than those of Molpastcs leucotis and Otocompsa 

 emetia, both of which they closely resemble ; but they are smaller 

 and as a body less richly coloured than those of O.'fuscicaudata. 

 They vary in length from 0-82 to 0*95, and from 0-58 to 07 in 

 breadth ; but the average of fifty-seven specimens measured was 

 0-88 by 0-05. 



285. Molpastes leucotis (Gould). TJie White-eared Bulbul. 



Otocompsa leucotis (Goukr), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 91 ; Hume, Ruwih 

 Draft N. ^- E. no. 459. ^ r , , j 



The White-eared Bulbul is, so far as my experience goes, 

 entirely a Western Indian form. In the cold weather it may be 

 met with at Agi^a, Cawnpoor, and even Jhansi, Saugor, and 

 Hoshungabad ; but during the summer months I only know of its 

 occurring in Cutch, Katywar, Sindh, Eajpootana, and the Punjab. 

 In all these localities it breeds, laying for the most part in July 

 and August in the Punjab, but somewhat earlier in Sindh. I have, 

 even in Eajpootana, seen eggs towards the end of May, but this 

 is the exception. 



The nests _ are usually in dense and thorny bushes— acacias, 

 catechu, and jhand (Prosoj^is spkiyera) — and are placed at heights 

 of from 4 to 6 feet from the ground. The Customs hedge Is a 

 great place for their nests, but I have noticed that they are 

 partial to bushes in the immediate neighbourhood of water ; and at 

 Hansie, whence he sent me many nests and eggs, Mr. W. Blewitt 

 always found them either in the fort ditch or along the banks of 

 the canal. 



The nests, which very much resemble those of Moljxistes Jicemor- 

 rhous, are usually composed of very fine dry twigs of some her- 

 baceous plant, intermingled with vegetable fibre resembling tow, 

 and scantily lined with very fine grass-roots. They are rather 

 slender structures, shallow cups measuring internally fi-om 2k to 

 3 inches in diameter, and a httle more than 1 inch in depth. 

 Three was the largest number of eggs I ever found in any nest, 

 and several sets were fully incubated. 



Mr. W. Theobald makes the following note on the nidification 



VOL. I. J 2 



