THE



Avicultural Magazine


BEING THE JOURNAL OF

THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY

FOR THE STUDY OF

FOREIGN & BRITISH BIRDS

IN FREEDOM & CAPTIVITY



Third Series. —Vol. XI.—No. 7 .—All rights reserved. JULY, 1920.



AN ALBINO BULBUL


By S. C. Law, M.A., B.L.


(Kindly communicated by I)r. Chalmers Mitchell)


Partial or wholesale albinism is often met with among the Thrushes

and Starlings, but it is rare among the Bulbuls. About a month ago

a live specimen of the latter class was brought to me for sale by a bird-

catcher, who told me that he had caught it very young in its nest

within a village in the district of Patna. It was found in the nest along

with another youngster, which retained the usual black colour of its

parents. I asked my painter, Mr. J. C. Banerjee, to draw a coloured

likeness of the bird, a copy of which is appended hereto. From this it

is clear that the plumage has become perfectly white, but in between

the feathers about the ears a rosy tint belonging to the flesh has added

to its beauty by mixing with the whiteness of the feathers. The

yellowish-rosy bill, red eyes and nostrils, and dull reddish legs and feet

are perceptible as the concomitants of albinism, while the usual red vent,

characteristic song, and general demeanour show it at the very first

sight to be none other than our daily companion of the field and garden

—a variation of the Black Indian Bulbul.


In the opinion of the bird-catcher, the specimen is different from the

Bengal Bulbul (Molpastes bengalensis), and is the offspring of the


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