BULBULS. 



35 



rich glossy brown ; from the back of neck dark smoky 

 brown, edged with ashy, which is the colour of the 

 rump ;' upper tail-coverts white ; tail ''brownish black, 

 tipped, with white excepting fhe two central feathers ; 

 wings coloured like the back ; the shoulders and -wing- 

 coverts edged with whitish, below from the breast 

 'backwards dark brown edged with ashy and merging 

 into ash colour on the lower abdomen ; vent and under 

 tail-coverts rich crimson ; bill and legs 'black ; iris of 

 eye brown ; length 8f in. The Black Builbul inhabits 

 " the lower ranges of the Himalayas from Kuma/on to 

 the head of the Assam valley, Oudh, Northern Belhar, 

 Bengal east of the longitude o<f Burdwan, Assam and 

 :its hill ranges, Dacca, Cachar, Tipperah," and has 

 been- seen from Manipur. Gates. It breeds from April 



a common pet in India, being taught by its masters to 

 fetch and carry, and also (I am sorry to say) to fight. 

 In Oates's edition of Hume's " Nests and Eggs " it is 

 stated that large sums are lost at times on these 

 combats. The young women in India are in the habit 

 of wearing a wafer on the forehead, between the eyes ; 

 it is called a tilca (pronounced teeka) and is either red 

 or white, according to the ca.ste of the wearer ; 'but 

 it is only an ornament, or beauty spot. The youth of 

 India amuse themselves by pretending to throw at the 

 face of some passing maiden, and a Bulbul, being 

 released at the same moment, flies at the tika, picks ife 

 off the forehead of the wearer and brings it to its 

 master, who much enjoys the girl's discomfiture. 

 I have never had this form of Eed-vented Bulbul, 



RED-VENTED BULBULS. 



to June. Its nest is very compact, and forms a rather 

 deep cup about 3^in. to 4in. in diameter and 2in. in 

 .height ; it is usually placed in some thick 'busn, ana 

 is composed of fine grass roots, moss, dry grasses, 

 flower-stalks (chiefly of forget-me-not), always with a 

 few and generally with plenty of dead leaves, and here 

 .and there cobwebs and silky seed-down -worked into 

 the outer surface ; sometimes a little fine grass is used 

 as a lining, but more frequently there is no lining 

 beyond finer roote, and these roots constitute 

 the chief variation in the nests of this bird, being 

 black in some and pale brown in others. The egg- 

 cavity is often large, inasmuch as the walls of the 

 Black Bulbul's nest, though very firm and compact, 

 vary from half an inch to 1^ inoh in thickness. The 

 eggs are three or four in number and exhibit the same 

 variations as in P. hcemorrhous. The song of this 

 Bulbul is said to be superior to that of its Madras* 

 representative, or of the White-cheeked species. It is 



but I should much doubt its superiority as a songster 

 over the Persian species. 



RED-VENTED BULBTJL (Pycnonotus hcemorrhous). 



Differs from the Bengalese form chiefly in the 

 absence of the conspicuous brown ear-coverts and in 

 the black of the occiput and nape ending abruptly, 

 instead of passing down on to the upper part of the 

 back. 



This race ranges from Ceylon northwards to Central 

 India, and on the western side as far north as Sindh. 

 Although essentially a 'bird of the plains, it is occa- 

 sionally found at considerable elevations on the Nilgiris 

 in fact, as high up as Ootacamund. It frequents 

 gardens and cultivated ground, as well as low bush 

 jungle, and is usually seen either in pairs or small 

 communities flying briskly about in a restlees and 

 inquisitive fashion. Its principal food is fruit, but 

 occasionally it will descend to the ground and hop a 



