MOLPASTES, 381 
appears to be a late breeder, no eggs having been taken earlier 
than June except one by Mandelli in May. 
Habits. The Striated Green Bulbul is a bird of high elevations 
only, not descending below 4,000 feet even in the celd weather. 
Jerdon says that it keeps much to the tops of high trees but in 
N. Cachar we found it frequenting smaller trees and scrub- 
jungle. Here it was restlessly moving about from one bush to 
another and when disturbed made its way into safety by short 
flights of a few yards at a time, although they are good flyers 
when really forced to take wing into the open, with a faster, 
more direct flight than most Bulbuls. Their principal note is 
‘a loud, mellow whistle,” as referred to by Jerdon but they are 
really rather silent birds on the whole. ‘They consort in small 
flocks in the non-breeding season and eat fruits, seeds and insects, 
Genus MOLPASTES Hume, 1873. 
The genus Molpastes comprises some Bulbuls which are amongst 
the most familiar of Indian and Burmese garden birds. They are 
very widely distributed and though there are but few species 
these are represented by very numerous geographical races. 
In Molpastes the crest is thick and of considerable length, the 
feathers growing from every portion of the crown and nape. 
The nuchal hairs are extremely short and difficult to detect. The 
wing is blunt and the tail very slightly rounded. All the birds of 
this genus are remarkable for the bright colour of the under tail- 
coverts and are further to be recognized by the broad white tips 
to the tail-feathers. 
Fig. 77.— Head of M. l. humit. 
One of the species or races hitherto recognized cannot be 
maintained. This is Molpastes magrathi (Whitehead, Bull. 
B. O. C., xxi, p. 48) which is only a rather common hybrid between 
M. h. intermedius and M. leucotis, partaking of the characters of 
these two birds in varying degree, some individuals showing 
more of the former and some more of the latter. 
The question of the status of the Chinese birds chrysorrhoides 
is one of some doubt. Robinson and Kloss consider that there 
are two good species, chrysorrhoides and hemorrhous, both con- 
taining one or more races. ‘To me it seems that we have but one 
species, extending from Ceylon to China, for there is no real 
break in the continuity of gradation from the dark western forms 
