THE BULBULS OF NORTH CACHAR, 7 
I can discover no other difference between this bird and the last. The 
margins to the primaries seem to me to be much the same in both birds, I 
know nothing in its habits, &c., to distinguish it from J. melanocephalus. 
In 1891 I also took a nest containing three young which, unfortunately, were 
merely naked squabs when found, and all died within two days; in spite of the 
most anxious care being bestowed on them, The female which I trapped on 
the nest was alone caught, and the male bird I never saw, so that I could not 
say whether it was of this or the last species. 
I have spent a good deal of time and trouble in trying to find evidence to 
prove either that 27. melanocephalus and I. cinereiventris are one and the same 
bird or that they are distinct. 
In the first place, neither Mr. Hole nor I have ever seen a flock of either 
kind unmixed with the other, and the only times I have taken either kind on 
the nest, the pair to it was not obtained or even seen. 
It is queer that all the specimens of J. melanocephalus in my collection should 
be males, whereas all those of I. cinereiventris except one, should be females, 
The one exception is a young male in imperfect plumage. One of my speci- 
mens of IM. cinereiventris (given me by Mr, Hole) shows very narrow, obscure 
margins of olive-green on the grey feathers behind the neck. 
Again, one of the birds in Lord Tweedale’s collection is said by him to be 
“ina stage of transition from yellow to grey.” 
The amount of grey is not constant on the lower plumage, and on the 
upper is sometimes entirely absent. Personally I believe the two birds to be 
identical, but it would certainly seem that neither sex nor age can have any- 
thing to do with the differences in coloration. In Lord Tweedale’s bird ‘the 
change is from yellow to grey, whereas in mine, if it is changing, the reverse 
would seem to be in process, Thus in the former bird it would appear that 
age was destroying the power of secreting the yellow pigment, whereas in the 
latter the assumption would be that the young bird had not developed the 
power. I have had several collectors kind enough to give me the sexes of 
their specimens and of the sexed birds. I have only heard of two male 
MI. cinerewentris. and of but one female M. melanocephalus. The birds in the 
Asiatic Museum are not sexed, Had sex, however, been the cause of the 
difference in coloration, it would most certainly have been ascertained in the 
fine collection in the British Museum, if not in those of private persons. 
The nest I have above mentioned was exactly like that of the former species 
already described, and was found in the same valley and on the following day. 
It was in a bush placed at about two feet from the ground, and, as it was 
surrounded by cane, was only got at with a good deal of difficulty, 
