MOLPASTES. 267 



ally with olive-green, internally with yellowish, and the three outer 

 pairs of feathers tipped with yellow ; lesser and median coverts 

 olive-green, brownish internally and with a few faint striations ; 

 greater coverts and quills brown on the inner and olive-green on 

 the-outer webs, the former also broadly margined with yellow ; 

 lores and chin bright yellow ; throat yellow, with numerous trian- 

 gular black*[spots ; cheeks and ear-coverts dark brown, streaked 

 with yellowish white ; sides of the neck, breast, and upper abdomen 

 dark slaty black, with broad pale yellow streaks ; lower abdomen 

 and flanks olive-brown, streaked with yellow, except in the middle, 

 which, with the under tail- and wing-coverts, is yellow without 

 striations. 



Legs and feet very dark brown or deep plumbeous ; bill black ; 

 iris deep red-brown (Hume Sf Davison). 



Birds from Tenasserim and Manipur are much smaller than those 

 from the Himalayas. Tenasserim specimens measure length 

 about 8-5 ; tail 3'7 ; wing 4-1 ; tarsus -8 ; bill from gape 1 : whereas 

 specimens from Sikhim have the tail 4*3 and the wing 4*4. The 

 sexes do not appear to differ much, if at all, in size. 



Distribution. Nepal and Sikhim ; Daphla hills in Assam ; the 

 Khasi hills ; Manipur ; the ranges of hills east of Toungngoo ; 

 Muleyit mountain in Tenasserim ; apparently at 5000 feet of ele- 

 vation and upwards. 



Habits, tyc. This Bulbul is said by Jerdon to keep to the tops of 

 high trees, going in small parties and having a mellow note, which 

 is uttered both when feeding and on the wing. A nest found by 

 Mandelli in Sikhim in May was made of fibrous roots and lined 

 with grass. It was placed in a bamboo bush about four feet from 

 the ground. 



Genus MOLPASTES, Hume, 1873. 



The genus Molpastes comprises some Indian Bulbuls which are 

 familiar garden birds. One of them (M. humii) appears to be very 

 rare and local, but the others are widely distributed and common. 



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 is 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. 



The birds of this genus are more frequently found in gardens 

 and cultivated parts of the country than elsewhere. They go about 

 in pairs and have very cheerful notes. They feed mostly on fruit 

 and they are always to be found on fruit-bearing trees in large 

 numbers, but they are not gregarious. Like other Bulbuls they are 

 incapable of much progress on the ground, but they are frequently 

 seen picking up fallen fruit and shuffling about by a series of short 

 ungainly hops. 



