BULBULS. 



39 



in the size of the spots, nnd the latter m the material 

 employed." 



I purchased a male of this species on the 8th June, 

 1899, and plax'ed it in a large flight cage, where it still 

 remains in perfect health and phniia,je. About 1903 

 my friend Mr. Seth-Smitli ha-d two which at fir.st he 

 thought might be texes and hoped to be able to 

 breed with tlurn ; he foun<l them too aggressive to bo 

 permitted their liberty and for a time confined them ^ 

 in a flight, where, however, I believe they quarrelled ; 

 at any rate he eventually offore<l me one of these birds 

 on the chance of its j)roving to bs a hen, and on the 6th 

 January. 1904. ho gave it to me. I turned it into the 

 cage with my bird, which immediately attacke<I it so 

 furiously thiit I had to remove it to another flight -cage; 

 shortly afterwards I heard it singing exactly in the 

 s:ime nuinnor as my old bird, ,«> that it seemed clear 

 that both were cocks; consequently when my friend 

 Mi.'s Gladstone told me in 1906 that she was anxious 

 to obtain some Bulbuls I sent off the second specimen 

 to her. 



The song of this Bulbul is short but rapid and 

 brilliant; it sounds like :i nillirkine dance over high 

 piano-notes, and I should tliirik would be beard for a 

 considerable distance in the open air. 



Dr. Rnss had a pair of this species which went to ne^t 

 in 1893. but a Porto Rico Pigeon interfered with it, so 

 that there was no result. He savs that " when chasing 

 its mate, it hops round her either on branches or the 

 gronnd with highly erect e-.l ei-est and nape feathers, 

 drnnping wings, ,ajid fan-like tail ; it indeed appears to 

 be white headed, but then it ouffi out its entire 

 plumage so that it seem.s considerably larger than it 

 actually is. Now it gets out of the way of no other 

 bird, even thousrh it be the large-t and most powerful 

 inhabitant of the bird-room." 



White-chekkkd BijLBTJi, (Olommfisa Icucogenys). 



Above ashy-brown with a faint olive tinge; crown 

 darker with long crest, the feathers of which have paler 

 edges ; lores and feathers ronnd eyes black ; a white 

 streak from upper mhandible to above front of eye ; ear- 

 coveits and cheeks at back white; wing-coverts edged 

 with dull olive; flights darker, aho edged with olive; 

 upper tail-coverts washed with olive ; tail-feathers dark 

 bro.vn, paler towards base, edged with olive, tipped with 

 white increasingly from central feathers outwards ; 

 throat blackish-brown, this colour extending round to 

 back of ear-coverts ; breast and abdomen whity-brown, 

 middle of abdomen whiter; thighs ashy-brown; under 

 tail-coverts bright yellow; under wing-coveits and 

 axillaries ashy-brown, whiter towards edge of .wing, 

 tinged with yellow; flights brown, ashy along inner 

 webs; bill black; feet dark plumbeous; eyes pale 

 brown. Female probably duller and with more slender 

 bill. Young with dark iris. Hab., Himalayas frcm 

 C:i.shmere to Bootan, np to 5,000ft. elevation. (Sharpe.) 



Jerdon observes that this species "is most abundant, 

 in Sikhim, from about 2,500 to 5.000 feet of elevation. 

 It feeds both on seeils, fruit, and insects. Hutton 

 found the nest neatly made with stalks and grass, and 

 containing three or four eggs, rcey or purplish white, 

 with specks and f pets of dark purple or claret." (" Birds 

 of India," Vol. II., p. 91.) 



In Oatei's edition of Hume's " Nests and Eggs of 

 Indian Birds" we read (pp. 175-176) that it Hreeds 

 from April to July, and at aJl heights from 3^000 to 

 7,000 feet. The nest is a loose, slender fabric, ex'ter- 

 nally composed of fine stems of some herb.iceous plant 

 and a few blades of graiss, and internally lined with 

 very fine hair-like grass. The neits may measure ex- 

 temaJJy, at most, 4in. in diameter; but the egg-cavity. 



which is in proportion very large and deep, is fully 

 2iin. across by IJin. deep. As I before said, the nest 

 is usually very slightly and loo?ely jmt together, so 

 that it is difficult to remove it without injury ; but 

 .sometimes they are more substantial, and occasionally 

 the cup is much shallower and wider than I have above 

 de.scribcd. Four is the full complement of eggs." 



According to Dr. Ruvb this is one of the most rarely 

 imported species: he also asserts that it has not been 

 received either at the Amsterdam or Loudon Zoological 

 (iardens ; but. as regards the latter, he is mistaken. 

 There is no reason that I know ot why it should not 

 be freely imported. 



Red-eared Bulbul {Olocompsa jocosa). 



Head and ereet black ; the ear-coverts white, with 

 a tuft of silky bair-like crinisou feathers over the ears, 

 and extending beyond them ; the ear-coverts are bor- 

 dered beneath by a narrow line of black; the upper 

 surface is pale brown, darker on the quills and tail, 

 especially towards the tip of the latter, which is white, 

 with the exception of the central feathers, but only 

 on the inner web, excepting on the outermost pair ; 

 under surface white from the chin ; the .sides of the 

 breast dark browm, forming an inteiTupted belt. 



The femiile ie smaller than the made, more golden- 

 brown on thB back, ear-plumee shorter, and her bill is 

 longer and more slender. Hab., Central Him.alayas 

 to Assam, and (slightly modified) throuiihout Burma. 

 and South China down the Malayan peninsula ; also 

 Andaman Islands. This lively Bulhul is always on the 

 move; its flight, according to Jer<lon, is "eteady, hui 

 not veiry rapid." According to Oates, it is "more fre- 

 quently seen in gardens than ekewhere " ; it especially 

 affe'cts jungly and well-wooded districts. Its song is 

 an agreeable chirruping warble. Like the other Bulbuls, 

 after flying it erects its crest as it alights. It lives 

 chiefly on fruit, but also eats a few seeds and insects ; 

 it is said to rob gardens on the Nilgiris of peas, straw- 

 bcTries, etc. The nest is neat, eolid, cup-shaped, about 

 4in. in diameter, and is formed exteriorly of twigs, 

 roots, and grass, covered with an outer layer of skeleton 

 leaves, lichen, pieces of cloth, broad-leaved grasses 

 or plantation bark, and compacted together with cob- 

 webs or silk from cocoons; it is lined with hair and 

 down, or fine rcots. The nest is usually built in clumps 

 of moong grass about two or three feet from the ground, 

 in bushes, tangled creepens, or thickets. The eggs, 

 which vary from two to three, or very rarely four in 

 number, are white with a pink tinge, marked especially 

 at the larger end with various shades of red or purplish. 



I purchased a pair of this species in 1896, and turned 

 them into a large flight-cage, where they a.gTeed well 

 excepting when choosing a roosting-jjlace for the night, 

 both sexes greatly desiring lo sit next to the wires. 

 Although the male was sliahtly larger, and had a far 

 more powerful bill than the female, she always got her 

 own way in the end. 



Altliough the song of the male consists only of a few 

 flule-like notes, and the species is less confiding thm 

 the Bulbuls of the genus Pi/rtwnolua, the form and 

 colourinjr and the restless activity of these birds are 

 very fascinatins. Unhappily, my hen onlv lived about 

 six months, and the cock bird died in less than a year — 

 on the 24th June, 1897. I suspect that I did not giva 

 them sufficient fruit. 



Wiener relates (" Cassell's Cage-Birds." p. 363) how a 

 female of this species in his possession built, on several 

 occasions, an artistic nest in a bush, laid three or 

 four pink eggs with chocolate-coloured spots, and sat 

 on them patiently ; but as there was no cock bird with 

 it, of course they came to nothing. He, however, con- 



