IOLE. 405 



(419) lole icterica, 



THE YELLOW-BROWED BULBUL. 



Ciiniger ictericus Strickl., A.M.N. H., xiii, p. 411 (1844) (Maha- 



baleshwar). 

 lole icterica. Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 283. 



Vernacular names. Huldi Bulbul (Mysore). 



Description. Whole upper plumage bright olive-yellow ; wings 

 dark brown, the outer webs of the feathers olive-yellow and the 

 inner edged with the same ; tail-feathers olive-yellow, with brighter 

 edges and the inner edges and shafts yellow below ; a streak from 

 the nostril to the eye and a circle round it, sides of the head and 

 whole lower plumage and under wing-coverts bright yellow, washed 

 with olive-green on the flanks. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris wood-brown ; legs and feet pale 

 blue, claws bluish-horny ; upper mandible brownish black, lower 

 pale brown, darkest along the edges and tips (Davison) ; iris blood- 

 red, dark red (Butler) ; iris blood-red (Jerdon). 



Measurements. Total length about 200 mm. ; wing 94 to 

 98mm.; tail about 94mm. ; tarsus about 19mm.; culm en about 

 15 mm. 



Distribution. The West side of Southern India from about 

 Mahabaleshwar to Cape Comorin and Ceylon. 



Nidification. The Yellow-browed Bulbul breeds principally in 

 February and March from Kanara to Travancore but eggs have 

 been taken as late as 15th May (Davidson) in the Nilgiris and 

 higher hills it breeds from April to the end of May or early June. 

 In Ceylon it apparently breeds in July and August. The nest is 

 like a small neat edition of those of Jficroscelis, a cradle in a hori- 

 zontal fork or between two twigs, made of leaves, soft, pliant 

 twigs and grasses, firmly wound round the supporting twigs and 

 well plastered with cobwebs. The lining is of fine grasses only. 

 The site selected is on a small sapling or high bush, 5 to 10 feet 

 from the ground, which may be either in dense forest, thin 

 scattered tree- or bush-jungle, or even in a small spinney or clump 

 of bushes. 



The eggs are nearly always two only and are very different from 

 those of any other genus, except Kdaartia, approaching nearest 

 to very bright pale eggs of Xantldxus and Spizixus. The ground 

 is a very pale pink, almost white in many cases, and they are 

 profusely speckled, more or less, all over with pale bright reddish- 

 or pinkish-brown. In a few eggs the markings are most numerous 

 at the large end, where they form an ill-defined cap or ring. 

 Thirty eggs average 23'1 x 16-6 mm. and the extremes are : maxima 

 25-0 x 17'2 mm. and minima 21*3 X 16-3 and 22-0 x 15*5 mm. 



Habits. This Bulbul is found at all heights from 2,000 to about 

 6,500 feet, frequenting forest, both light aud dense, more open 

 country and even sometimes venturing into gardens and orchards. 



