40 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



eludes from this f.ict that Bulbuls should not be difficult 

 to breed; but, beinu' aggressive birds, it would be 

 uneafe to trust them in a mixed collection 



BROWN-EABED BULBUL die minis flavala). 



Cro\rn dusky slate-grey, crested ; remainder of upper 

 surface ai . wings ami tail dusky; greater 



coverts and outer webs of secondaries margined with 

 olive-yellow ; lores and a broad mcustachial streak from 

 lower mandible black; ear-coverts silky brown ; i 

 white; i)n..is;. si, his of body and thi_>hs a.shy grey; 

 centre of abdomen greyish white; under tail-coverts 

 white; bill black; feet dark plumbeous; iris 'dark 

 reddish-brown. No .sexual difference has been de- 

 scnUed, but d:mb:Iess the female lias a more slender 

 bill than the male. Hab., Himalayas, from 5,003 to 

 4,000 feet, from between Simla and Musscorie eastwards 

 to Bootan, and apparently to the head of the Assam 

 valley. It is a.'so found in the Khasia hills, and the 

 Kakhyen hills in Binmib. (Sharp* 1 .) 



According to Jerdon i" Birds of India," Vol. II., pp. 

 80-81), " It is not very rare near Darjeeling, at eleva- 

 tions of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. It associates in small 

 parties, feeds both oa berries and insects, and has a 

 loud warbling note.'' 



I have found no further notes on the wild habits. 

 It is rarely imported : Russ states that three speci- 

 mens reached the Landon Zoological Gardens in 1877; 

 otherwise he knows of no other arrivals of this species 

 in the trade. 



RUFOUS-BELLIED BULBUL (I oh' ma/l,Uandi}. 



Head brown, somewhat ere- ted, the .shafts of the 

 feathers buti'y white ; remainder of upper surface dull 

 olive-green ; ear-coverts brownish ; chin and throat 

 white, wit.li dusky edges to the feathers; sides of neck, 

 breast and abdomen light chestnut or cinnamon, with 

 pale centres bo the feathers; flanks washed with olive; 

 thighs and under tail-coverts olive-yellow, ;;H also under 

 wing-coverts; bill blackish brown, lower mandible 

 h ; feet fleshy brownish ; iris brownish red. No 

 difference has been indicated between the sexes; but 

 the young bird is .said to be rather duller, and washed 

 with rufous on the scapularu, wing-i-overts and upper 

 tail ; c : oyer'Ls ; under surface light chestnut ; abdomen 

 whitish washed with dingv olive-yellow; lores, chin, 

 and a mou-tachial line dull white, with grey-brown 

 bases to the feathers. Hab., "Hill-ranges of the 

 Himalayas, ranging eastwards into A a-: am, the Khasia, 

 Aiacan. and Tipperah hills." (Sharpe.) 



Jerdon says I" Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 80), "fre- 

 quents hiuh trees, lives chiefly on fruit, and has a loud 

 ( heerfu'. a 



In Gates' s edition of Hume's "Nests and Iv>-s of 

 Indian Birds" [Vol. I., pp. 168-9), we read: "The 

 Rufous-bellied Bulbul, according to Mr. Hodgson's 

 notes, breed-s in the central region of Nepal and low- 

 down _ nearly to the Terai, from April .to June. Its 

 nest is a shallow saucer suspended between a slender 

 horizontal] fork, to the twigs of which it is firmly bound 

 like an Oriole's with vegetable fibres and roots. It is 

 com '] ; ">d dry leaves bound together with 



fibres, and lined with fine grace or moss-roots. The 

 bird is .siid to lay four eggs, but these are neither 

 nor described. 



Dr. Scully writes from Nepal: "This Bulbul is 

 common throughout the year on the hills round the valley 

 of Nepal, but never tenants the central woods. It is 

 generally found in bushes and bush-trees, not in high 

 tree forest, and is commonlv seen in pairs. The breell- 

 ing season appears to be May and June. A nest was 

 taken on 6th June, which contained two fresh eggs. 

 The nest was somewhat oval in shape, measuring 5.35in. 



in length and 2.5in. across ; the egg-cavity was about 

 lin. deep in the centre, and the bottom of the nest 

 1.25in. thick. It was attached to a slender fork of a 

 tree, and was composed externally of ferns, dry leaves, 

 roots, grass, and a little moss, bound together with 

 fine hair-like fibres, which were wound round the prongs 

 o.f the fork so as regularly to suspend the nest like an 

 Oriole's. There was a regular lining, distinct from th 

 body of the nest, composed of fine, long, yellowish 

 s stems, and a little cobweb was spread here and 

 )' the fork and the outside of 



the nest. The eggs are rather long ovals, smaller at 

 one end, and fairly glossy; they measure 1.0 by 0.7. 

 and 0.97 by 0.7. The ground-colour is pure pinkish 

 white, abundantly speckled and finely spotted with 

 reddish purple, the spots closely crowded together at 

 the large end, but not confluent, forming in - 

 broadish /.one, and in the other a cap; in the latter e_rg 

 there are a few faint underlying stains of purplish inky 

 at the large er.d.'' 



Russ notes that three examples of this Bulbul arrived 

 at our Zoological Gardens in 1877, but he appears not 

 to have heard of any other importation of the species. 

 YKI.LOW-CROWXED Bri.i TJL (Tra<-liyc<nn.-: 

 ochrocepfalus). 



Above brown ; the feathers greyish towards the tips 

 and with 'white shaft-streaks ; these become less distinct 

 towards the lower back and almost imperceptible on 

 the rump; the feathers of the latter tinted with yel- 

 lowish olive; tail-feathers dull yellowish olive, the 

 inner webs browner ; lesser and median coverts washed 

 with ashy grey : greater and primary coverts and flights 

 washed externally with olive-yellow; forehead an I 

 crown deep straw yellow, changing to j^liy-lirown on 

 nape and hind-neck. ai:d with white shaft-streaks; ear- 

 coverts brown, with whitish centres; lores black; a 

 bare space behind the eye: the eyelid, a streak from 

 the lores below the eye and another above the cheeks, 

 straw-yellow; cheeks bhck; throat dull white; b 

 and sides brown, washed with ashy and with white 

 shaft-streaks to the feathers, less distinct on ; 

 which have an olive tint; centre of body below wliity- 

 brown ; thighs deep fawn-oolour ; umV;- tail-coveits 

 lighter fawn, with an olive-yellowish tinge and whitish 

 shaft-lines; axillaries pale brown; under wing-co\ 

 more ashy, washed with olive-yellow; flights l.elo-w 

 dusky, with pale yellow alnn^ ini.ei- webs; bill black, 

 feet dark horn-brown: iris brown or red. The female 

 is like the male, but smaller, and doubtless with a mere 

 slender 1 ill. Halt)., Southern Tenasserim and the 

 Malay peninsula to .lava. Smratia, and Borneo. 



Mr C. Hose, speaking of this Bulbul as observed bv 

 him in Sarawak (The ill", 1893, p. 391), says : " This 

 bird if common along th called '>.. 



natives ' Maki Boyah ' or 'Alligator ISird,' a, name give i 

 to it from its snpposi d h-iln't of annoying the alligator." 



Beyond the fait that this species has 1 een met with 

 1.000ft. up Mount Kina Balu, I can obtain no further 

 information respecting it. Dr. Russ does not mention 

 it in his work, although a specimen was deposited at 

 our Zoclog;e;il Gardens in 1893. 



SI>!>TTED-WIXG (I'.-tari.ijIo**'! fjiUojiti-ra). 



Above p ile leaden-grey speckled with brownish ; 

 upper tail-coverts washed with reddish-brown; flights 

 and primary-coverts greenish black ; a white spot at 

 base of primaries; tail dark brown; chin and thio-i! 

 deep chestnut; some of the feathers with grey tips; 

 remainder of under surface white washed with rufous 

 on abdomen and flanks ; bill deep horn-brown, with 

 pale yellow edges to the mandibles, base of lower 



