OTOCOMPSA. 395 



Description. Forehead, crown and lores black ; hinder parts oF 

 cheeks and enr-coverfs white surrounded with black ; a tut't 

 of crimson-scarlet feathers under the eye and extending over tlie 

 lower ear-coverts ; whole upper plumage, wings and tail ruddy- 

 brown, the feathers of the wing margined paler and the tail 

 having all but the central, or two central, pairs ti|)ped with fulvous- 

 white, purest on the outermost feathei's ; lower plumage white, 

 pure on the chin atul throat and suffused with fulvous-brown on 

 the flanks and thighs ; a broad b:ind across the breast dark brown, 

 more or less broken in the centre ; under tail-coverts crimson. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris hazel-brown or crimson-brown ; 

 bill, legs and feet black. 



Measurements. Total length about 200 mm. ; wing 88 to 

 95 mm. ; tail 80 to 85 mm. ; tarsus about 20 mm.; culmen about 

 14 mm. 



The nestling has no red ear-tufts and the under tail-coverts 

 are pink. 



Distribution. Himalayas, Simla to East Assam, North and 

 South of the Brahmaputra, Bengal, Oudh, North of Orissa ; North 

 Chin and Kachin Hills, North Yunnan. The birds from China 

 are very doubtfully separable but if separated would be known 

 as 0. eriieria jocosa. 



Nidification. This Bulbnl breeds from early March to late 

 September but most birds build in April, May and June. They 

 are found during the breeding season from the level of the plains 

 up to at least 7,000 feet, perhaps up to 8,000. They make a coin- 

 pact, cup-shaped nest of twigs, roots, bents, leaves and grasses, 

 lined with fine I'oots or grasses. Generallv it is placed on low 

 shrubs but sometimes in small trees, cactus hedges or trellises of 

 verandahs. I once found a nest in a grass field quite on the 

 ground amongst the roots of the grass. They are birds of civiliza- 

 tion, selecting gardens and cultivation for their abodes and even 

 when they breed away from human haunts they select the thinnest 

 scrub or fringes of heavier forest. Their eggs number three or four 

 and are like those of the genus Molpastes but rather less variable. 

 200 eggs average 22-2 x 16'2 mm., the extremes being 24"1 X 

 16-0, 23-0 X 17-1, 19-0 xlGO and 2Mxl30mm. 



Habits. The Eed-whiskered Bulbul is just as familiar and 

 friendly a little bird as his Red-vented cousin and is e\en more 

 cheerful and lively in lii^ actions. They are less quarrelsome 

 than the birds of the previous genus but are e(iual]y good fighters 

 when roused, the males fighting fiercely in the breeding season if 

 their special ground is invaded. Their notes are much the same 

 as those of MoJpastes but much more nuisical. They fly well, 

 though at no great rate. Their diet is both insectivorous and 

 vegetarian and they can do a good deal of mischief in fruit and 

 vegetable gardens, destroying oranges, plums etc. when only just 

 formed and raspberries, strawberries etc. when ripe. 



