38 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



eggs possess so great a general resemblance that one can 

 readily identify them." 



Mr. F. Nicholson (The Ibi, 1881, p. 148) says: "The 

 nest, though cup-shaped, like that of P. analis, is 

 better constructed and more neatly woven. As with 

 the last-named species, it is composed of slender twigs, 

 with dead leaves interwoven to form a more solid base, 

 and it is lined with cocoanut fibre. 



"The eggs are similar to those of P. analis, being 

 creamy white with large red spots and underlying pale 

 grey markings ; but the spots are decidedly larger than 

 in the eggs of the latter species." 



This bird first arrived at our Zoological Gardens in 

 1865 and 1874, and in 1878 it was received in the 

 Amsterdam Gardens. The late Mr. Aug. F. Wiener 

 also (according to Dr. Russ) purchased four specimens, 

 which reached the late Mr. J. Abrahams in 1878. It 

 is truly remarkable that so abundant a species in the 

 villages of Java should not have been more freely 

 imported: it would be a really nice species to breed 

 in our outdoor aviaries. It is odd that, in his account 

 of the imported Bulbuls in " Cassell's Cage-Birds," the 

 late Mr. Wiener did not even refer to this specie*. 



DUSKY BULBTJL (Pycnonotus barbatus). 



Above earth-brown ; flights darker with pale edges ; 

 tail dark brown, the outer feathers faintly tipped with 

 ashy brown ; crown darker than back, as also sides 

 of face; lores, region enclosing eye and chin blackish; 

 under parts light ashy brown, darker on flanks and 

 thighs ; abdomen and under tail-coverte white ; the 

 latter slightly tinted with yellow ; bill and feet black ; 

 iris dark brown. Female smaller than male, rather 

 browner and duller, and doubtless with more slender 

 bill. Young bird paler than adult, head hardly darker 

 than back; under parts ashy whitish. Hab., North- 

 western Africa. 



In his " Birds of Tunisia," Vol. I., pp. 163-4, Mr. 

 J I. S. Whitaker gives the following account of this 

 species : " The Dusky Bulbul is not an uncommon bird 

 in some of the wooded districts of North Tunisia, but 

 its range in the Regency is not an extensive one, and 

 appears to be confined strictly to the Tell country north 

 of the Atlas. 



" In Algeria and Morocco, but particularly in the 

 latter country, the species seems to be more abundant 

 than in Tunisia, and my collection contains a large 

 series of specimens obtained from various districts of 

 the Empire, some of them situated as far south as the 

 Haha country. Mr. Meade-Waldo says it ascends to 

 at least 7,OCOft. in the moist woods of the Atlas. 

 Apparently the southern range of the Bu-lbul extends 

 considerably beyond Morocco, the species, according to 

 some authors, occurring along the West African coast 

 down to Senegambia, and even further south. Whether 

 this southern form is quite the same as the typical one is 

 not yet clearly established. According to Colonel Irby 

 (Orn. Strs. Gib., p. 77), the Dusky Bulbul is very 

 plentiful in the vicinity of Tangier and Larache in 

 North Morocco, where it frequents fruit gardens and 

 orchards, feeding largely upon ripe oranges. Its way 

 of eating this fruit is ingenious, for it makes a neat 

 hole in one side of the orange, and then completely 

 cleirs out the juicy contents, leaving the rind intact, 

 except for the small aperture on one side. The same 

 method is often resorted to by Black Rats, and I have 

 known orange trees in Sicily completely thus denuded 

 of their fruit by these creatures. 



"In Tunisia, as above mentioned, the Dusky Bulbul 

 occurs in the Tell districts north of the Atlas, 'where it 

 is resident and breeds. In the valley of the Madjerdah 

 it is fairly abundant, and to be met with in most of 



the wild olive groves, and among the higher ' maquis ' 

 thickets on the hill-slopes, but it seldom occurs in the 

 more lofty oak forests. At Ain-Draham and Fernana, 

 both thickly-wooded districts, it is also to be found, 

 as well as in the neighbourhood of Bizerta, in the 

 extreme north-east of the Regency. The vegetation in 

 the last-named district is almost exclusively of the 

 'maquis' description, but the Bulbul seems to be 

 as much at home there as in the better wooded country- 

 further west. Orange-groves, however, which in 

 Morocco appear to be the favourite resort of the species, 

 are few and far between in any part of Tunisia. At 

 certain seasons, particularly when several of these birds- 

 collect together, they are very noisy and quarrelsome, 

 and may be heard chattering at a considerable distance ;. 

 but owing to the fact of their frequenting, as a rule, 

 thickly foliaged trees and shrubs, they are not very 

 often seen. The song of the Bulbul is decidedly pleas- 

 ing, being composed of some remarkably rich and clear 

 notes like ' ttt-iffot-wot-tit-tit,' which cannot fail to 

 attract attention. The breeding 'season of this species 

 is rather late, being in May and June. The bird selects 

 a fork in a low tree or high bush as a site for its nest, 

 which is generally composed of small roots and dry 

 grass. The eggs, three or four in number, are of a dull" 

 white, with grey shell-markings and reddish-brown sur- 

 face spots. Average measurements 24 by 18 mm." 



All that Dr. Russ tells us about this species is that 

 the Late Mr. Abrahams received several specimens ; he- 

 does not record the fact that a specimen was deposited" 

 at our Zoological Gardens in 1895. 



THE CHINESE BULBUL (Pycnonotus sinensis). 



Above ash-grey, wa-hed with yellowish olive ; 

 bastard-wing, primary and greater coverts, flights and 

 tail-feathers dark brown edged with yellowish olive ; 

 crown slightly crested black ; a broad white expanding 

 patch on each side above the eye uniting at back of 

 head ; lores pearly grey-whitish ; cheeks and ear-coverts 

 black with an oblique pearly grey-whitish patch at the 

 back ; chin and throat pure white, breast smoky-grey, 

 faintly tinted with yellowish-olive; under parts other- 

 wise dull white, slightly smoky at sides and on thighs ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries slightly yellowish. 

 Female slightly larger than male, and of course with a 

 more slender bill. Hab., South China and Formosa. 



In The Ibis for 1898, pp. 365-6, Mr. J. D. D. La 

 Touche says of this bird, as observed by him in 

 Northern Formosa " I procured eggs of this abundant 

 species on 19th May and on 1st July. The former were 

 much incubated ; the latter were quite fresh, and were 

 three in number. The ground-colour of the eggs com- 

 posing this clutch is a very pale mauve, almost white, 

 speckled with lake spot's over lilac-grey underlying 

 spots. The markings are more numerous on the large- 

 end of the eggs and form a cap. The shape is ovate. 

 Size 0.9in. by 0.62in., 0.85in. by 0.62in., 0.83in. by 

 0.6in. 



" A nest obtained at Hobe is made of sword-grass 

 flower-spikes with an inner foundation of leaves and 1 

 bamboo-leaves, the primary foundation of the nest being 

 the sword-grass flower-spikes with the down still at- 

 tached. It has a lining of fine rootlets. Depth of egg- 

 cavity 2in. ; outer depth of nest 3.5in. ; inner diameter 

 about 2.6in. ; outer diameter at rim 3.8in. ; largest 

 outer diameter about 5in. 



" Another nest from the same locality is similar to 

 the above, but is without the primary foundation, and 

 the lining is of stripped sword-grass flower-spikes. The 

 egg-cavity is rather deeper. 



"Both the eggs and the nests of this Bulbul vary con- 

 siderably, the former in shape, in depth of colour, and 1 



