4. nTl'SIPETES. 37 



grey ; lores, fore part of eyelid, a spot at the base of the lower 

 mandible, another at the base of the chin, and a streak along the 

 hinder part of the cheeks black ; under surface of body pale slaty 

 grey, inclining to hoary grey on the fore part of checks and throat, 

 the feathers of the latter portion having indistinct white shaft -lines ; 

 lower abdomen white, the feathers of the lower breast also edged 

 with white ; under tail-coverts white, mottled with ashy-browu 

 bases to the feathers ; under wing-covcrts and axillaries light ashy 

 brown, with indistinct white tips ; quills below light brown, ashy 

 whitish along the edge of the inner web ; " bill and feet bright 

 coral-red ; irides dark brown ; claws horny brown " (SadJi/). Total 

 length 9o inches, culmen 1, wing 4-7, tail 4-1, tarsus 0-7. 

 The sexes measure as follows : — 



Total 



length. Culmen. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. 

 in. in. in. in. in. 



a. (S ad. Simla (2Ius. H. 



Seehohm) 9-0 1-0 4-6 3-85 0-75 



b. 5 ad. X.W. Himalayas 



(PiuwiU) 9-0 1-1 4-6 3-8 0-7 



c. 5 ad. X.W. Himalayas 



(Fimvill) 9-3 1-05 4-6 4-0 0-75 



Nestling. Ashy brown dbove and below, the whole plumage of a 

 fliifly character, the wing-coverts with paler brown edges ; head 

 dusky blackish. 



The fuU-groii:n young bird is like the adult, but the grey is not so 

 pure and the centre of the body below is white ; wing-coverts and 

 quills dark brown, edged with ashy brown ; head dingy black, as also 

 the base of the mandibles and chin, but there is no ajipearance of 

 the black moustache. 



It is not easy to draw the line between H. psaroides and H. con- 

 color ; and although Assam specimens are referable to the former 

 bird rather than the latter, there can be no doubt that they are 

 slightly intermediate between the two. Thus Horsfield and Moore, 

 in their ' Catalogue ' (p. 2.55), referred il'Clellands birds from 

 Assam to H. gancesa rather than to //. psaroides. In the Tweeddale 

 collection also are specimens from Shillong (^Chennell) which are 

 likewise darker iron-grey than Himalayan examples, and from the 

 appearance of black bases to the feathers of the mantle show an 

 affinity to H. concolor. 



The Himalayan Black Bulbul inhabits the whole range of the 

 Himalayas from Cashmere to Assam and Arakan. As mentioned 

 above, the specimens from the eastern part of its range shovv 

 a tendency to darker coloration, and approach H. concolor of the 

 Burmese hills. The species occurs at about 3000 to 5000 feet on 

 the mountains, and is not knoAvn to be migratory. 



a. Ad. St. Cashmere. Purchased. 



b, c, d. Ad. sk. Cashmere (Dr. Belleic). India Museiun. 



