Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithology of Palestine. 81 



clear a way to it. It is composed entirely of strips of bark, 

 loosely woven together, and without any other lining. One in 

 my collection looks much like a very large nest of Savi's War- 

 bler, from this peculiarity of the employment of but a single 

 material. The eggs are four to six in number, dark rich green, 

 smaller than those of the Common Thrush, and a little larger 

 than the eggs of Crateropus fulvus. The parent birds continue 

 their attention to the young for some time after they leave the 

 nest ; and I have been amused in watching the manner in which 

 the old bird will remain at the top of a bush, scolding and 

 screaming at the intruder till all her brood have dropped down 

 one after the other and are running to the next tree, when she 

 suddenly runs down and follows them in silence, to repeat the 

 same manoeuvre so long as she is followed. Their food con- 

 sists principally, if not entirely, of the berries of the zisiyphus 

 or jujube, which are to be found at all seasons of the year. 



The Bulbul of Palestine {Ixus xanthopyyius, Hempr. and 

 Ehrenb. ; Ixus vallombrosa, Bp.) is far more widely distributed 

 than the Crateropus, though not so numerous in its special locali- 

 ties. It is very like the Ixus aurigaster, Vieill., and Ixus ca- 

 pensis, Smith ; but is easily distinguished from the former by its 

 deep-black head and throat, sharply defined from the paler 

 brown of the back instead of melting into it, by its much lighter 

 breast and abdomen, and by its black tail. From the latter it 

 is distinguished by its black head, and by the lighter colour of 

 the body above and beneath, as well as by the black tail. It is 

 never gregarious, but scattered throughout the year in pairs, and 

 commences its song soon after Christmas. For its music it well 

 merits the name of Bulbul ; and I never heard a finer songster, 

 except the Nightingale, which it much resembles in power and 

 variety of note. It is easily approached, and by no means so 

 shy as most of the Turdida. The nest is very small and neat, 

 placed either in the small fork of a tree or on a side branch, 

 and covered externally to match the bark of the branch on which 

 it rests. In character and structure it much resembles that of the 

 Chaffinch. The eggs are three, seldom four; and while some pairs 

 have hatched their young in March, others do not lay till towards 

 the end of April. The egg partakes of the beautiful character of 



N. S. VOL. I. G 



