GREEN BULBULS 117 



Anatomically speaking, green bulbuls are not bulbuls 

 at all. Jerdon called them bulbuls because of their 

 bulbul-Uke habits, although, as " Eha " points out, 

 they take more after the orioles. Gates tells us that 

 these beautiful birds are glorified babblers, rich rela- 

 tions of the disreputable-looking seven sisters. He 

 gives them the name Chloropsis. 



Seven species of green bulbul are found in India ; 

 they thus furnish an excellent example of a bird 

 dividing up into a number of local races. When the 

 various portions of a species become separated from 

 one another this phenomenon often occurs. The 

 common grey parrot of Africa is, according to Sir 

 Harry Johnston, even now splitting up into a number 

 of local races. That interesting bird is presenting us 

 with an example of evolution while you wait. It is 

 quite Hkely that the process may continue until several 

 distinct species are formed. We must bear in mind that 

 there is no essential difference between a species and a 

 race. When the differences between two birds are 

 slight we speak of the latter as forming two races ; 

 when the divergence becomes more marked we call 

 them species. Very often systematists are divided as 

 to whether two alhed forms are separate species or 

 mere races. In such cases some peacemakers split 

 the difference and call them sub-species. 



Green bulbuls are essentially arboreal birds. In the 

 olden time when India was densely wooded I believe 

 that there was but one species of Chloropsis, even as 

 there is but one species of house-crow in India proper. 

 Then, as the land began to be denuded of forest in parts. 



