BULBULS. 



37 



confined to th« great desert tract of North-West India, 

 the climate of which iiiiich rosenibles tliat of Southern 

 Persia." Mr. Blanford goes on to fay that he can see 

 no constant difference between the specimens of Persia 

 and India, e.xctpting that the former may oerhaps run 

 a little larger. 



The White-earetl Bulhul breeds from May to August; 

 in the Punjab from July to August, but in Sindh 

 earlier. Its nest is usually built at a height of from 

 four to six feet from the ground in some thorny bush- 

 acacia, catachu, or jhand (Prosopis siiicigria); it piefers 

 the immediate neighbourhood of water, probably from 

 the fact that it is very fond of a bath. The nest is a 

 neatly constructed, but rather slender, cup-shaped 

 structure, formed of very fine dry twigs of some herba- 

 ceous plant, mi.xed with vegetable fibre resembling 

 tow. and scantily lined with very fine grass roots ; the 

 cavity measures from 2iin. to 3in. in diamet-er, and a 

 little over an inch in depth. The eggs, which are 

 usually three (rarely lour) in number, are of an ovate 

 pear-sliape, pinky whit-e much dotted with claret-red. 

 which frequentlv foims a zone or cap at the larger end. 



At the Crystal P.alace Show for 1887 Mr. J. M. C. 

 Johnston (brother of the African explorer) exhibited a 

 true Persian Bulbul. which he had picked up for a 

 few shillings at a small bird-shco in London. About a 

 month later he gave this bird to me, and for three 

 years the bird was in perfect health, and the delight of 

 everybody who saw him ; then he had an attack of 

 scurvy, which, though it did not affect his temper or 

 stop his song, temporarily much detracted from his 

 beauty. This disease apparently disappeared under 

 change of diet, more fruit, chopped lettuce, etc., bein^ 

 given to him, and for two years he regained his trim 

 and pleasing plumage; then the disease reappeared 

 and gradually increased in spile of all treatment, and 

 though the bird remained cheerful and confiding to the 

 last, he died about the end of the year 1892. 



This Bulbul was so tame that he would reach over 

 my hand to eat from his pan before I had put it down. 

 The sight of a spider would make him dance and sing 

 with delight, as also would the offer of a mealworn\; 

 moreover, when he got the latter in his beak he would 

 hop about, warbling and coclcing his head knowingly 

 for some time before he swallowed it. Candied fruit, 

 but especially apricot, was much appreciated, as also all 

 kinds of ripe fruit when in season. I fear, however, I 

 did not ^ive enough of this, his natural food, and that 

 had I treated him more liberally I might (instead of 

 having his friendship for only a little over five years) 

 have kept him much longer. As a staple diet he had 

 my regular mixture, to which I added daily a few 

 grocers currants — a fruit which is unsuitable for all 

 birds, but especially for a Bulbul. 



I regard this as the pick of all the true Bulbuls for 

 intelligence, docility, tameness, and vocal excellence; 

 but to secure a good singer a true Persian bird must be 

 selected, not one of the much smaller race inhabiting 

 North -Western India. About 1891 a body of the Indian 

 race was sent to me by Mr. Abrahams for comparison 

 with my living Persian example, and I was astonished 

 at the difference in size; the Indian bird seemed but 

 little larger than a Great Tit, which (excepting in its 

 crest) it much resembles. 



P. leucotis is the Bulbul of poetry, the far-f.amed 

 "Persian Nightingale." .and he has a far greater claim 

 to the title than the " Virginian Nightingale," his notes 

 being particularly sweet and soothing. 



The song of the Persian Bulbul consists of liquid 

 ■water-hubble whistling, and reminds one strongly of 

 some parts of our Nightingale's melody. The same 

 phrase is sometimes repeated over and over for hours, 

 and then abruptly altered, but it is always pretty and 



cheerful; indeed, even the scolding note is not alto- 

 gether uiipleasing. The bird also is so full of music 

 that any sound, whether of organ, piano, or the not* ol 

 another bird will start him off 



Yellow-ve.nted Bulbul {Pycnonolus aurigaster). 



Above brown, the feathers, excepting on the lower 

 bick, H ith ashy edges ; rump and uplier tail-coverts 

 white ; the longer coverts slightly brownish ; greater 

 coverts and flights with paler brown edges; tail feathers 

 dark brown, paler towards base and tipped with dull 

 white; head black, the back of neck ashy grey with 

 dark brown centres to feathers; ear-coverts and lower 

 throat white ; remainder of under surface ashy-brown, 

 becoming white at centre of abdomen and bright yellow 

 on vent and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts and 

 axillaries pale a>hy-brown edged with pale brownisli; 

 bill and feet black ; eyes brown or dark red. The female 

 appears to be slightly larger than the male, and doubt- 

 less she has a longer and more slender bill. The young 

 bird is paler in all its colours than the adult. Hab., 

 Java. 



According to H. A. Bernstein's account of this bird in 

 Java, " Without question this is one of the commonest 

 birds in the built upon and cultivated districts of Java. 

 At any rate, I have found it everywhere widely distri- 

 buted in different parts of the island, in the east as in 

 the west, near the coast as well as in the hill-country 

 of the interior. Even in the coffee plantations I have 

 very frequently met with it, but never in dense primeval 

 forest or high mountains. It lives gregariously, and 

 excepting at the pairing season mostly in small flocks, 

 the members of which ke«p well together and rarely 

 separate widely. If one member of the company notes 

 a suspicious object, he examines it with long, extended 

 neck, and ultimately flies away, at the Same time warn- 

 ing his companions of the approaching danger with 

 loud cries, and they also fly away at the alarm. In 

 this manner they have many times disapjwinted me in 

 ray pursuit of a rare bird which I was trying to stalk. 



"This Bulbul nests m the hedges and bushes in the 

 vicinity of villages, and as it is so common I have been 

 able to collect a great number of it.s nests. They all 

 stand about one to two melrts high above the earth, 

 rarely higher, and never immediately on the earth. As 

 a, rule they are well and strongly built, and the inner 

 cup especially always forms a perfectly regular half- 

 sphere. Externally the nest consists of coarse vegetable 

 matter, dry leaves, grass stems and the like, and in 

 addition it" is covered not infrequently with lichens and 

 caterpillar silk. For constructing the inside the bird 

 uses fine grass stems, and preferably the elastic fibre 

 of the Areng palm. The number of eggs usually con- 

 sists of three, rarely four. In size and colour they are 

 very variable, so that in ten nests one can scarcely 

 find two in which the eggs entirely agree. The egg 

 generally is of a beautifully oval shape, yet one also 

 finds strikingly elongated specimens, so that the length 

 varies from 21 lo 27 millimetres, whilst the greatest 

 width is always 17 millimetres. The ground-colour is 

 of not quite pure white, usually with a reddish tinge, 

 upon which birge and small spots are distributed, partly 

 of a cherry and partly of a wine-red colour, which differ 

 considerably in number, size, and depth of colour; some- 

 times they" are distributed uniformly over the whole 

 surface, sometimes they are situated in a great crowd 

 at the blunt end, and there fomi a more or less defined 

 cap ; sometimes they stand out distinctly from the 

 ground colour, sometimes indistinctly, sometimes pale 

 and faded, sometimes dark and brilliant. Then one 

 may discover clear grey or grey-brown spots among the 

 red-brown ones ; yet, although they differ so much, t!;o 



