Birds of Lucknow, 487 
nests, the birds fairly baffled both them and me. It was 
not until they had hatched four young successfully that they 
gave their secret away. 
The few nests which I have seen have all been deep inverted 
cones of grass^ fibre. Sec, thickly coated outside with fibres 
like those of the White-eyebrowed Fantail Flycatcher, but 
hardly so neat. They seem to be usually concealed in 
creepers or under leaves, at no great height from the ground, 
but I have seen too few to be able to say much. The eggs, 
usually three in number, are a most delicate grey or pinky 
white, marked with thick longitudinal streaks of reddish 
brown, purple, or lavender. 1 consider them some of the 
handsomest to be found. 
Average of 8 Lucknow eggs •(54" x '04" 
Measurement of largest ^o;,^ '7h" x '56" 
„ smallest e^^ "62" x '52" 
No. 278. MoLPASTES HiEMORKHous. Madras Red-vetded 
Bulbul. 
Bulbul, Gnldum Bulbul [H.]. 
This bird, although I have given it the above designation, 
is not the true M. hcBmorrhous. I have examined numbers 
of skins and taken nests and eggs time after time, and have 
come to the conclusion that our type is very constant, and at 
the same time differs from all the Red-vented Bulbuls hitherto 
described. The dimensions tally with those given by Gates 
for M. hcsmorrhous, while the black of the crown terminates 
rather abruptly on the hind-neck, and is not extended along 
the back, as is the case with M. intermedias and M. bengal- 
cnsis. On the other hand, as in the last two species, the ear- 
coverts are chocolate. Furthermore, I may add — although I 
attach little importance to this — that the eggs of the Lucknow 
bird which I have seen are without exception far smaller than 
my eggs of genuine M. intermedius from the Punjab. My 
own opinion is that the Lucknow race is the result of a 
hybridization between the other three species. 
This Bulbul is very common all over the district, and is 
found away from human habitations more often than tiie 
Bed-wliiskercd Bulbul, which evidently objects to being far 
