HYPSIPETES GANEESA. 



(THE BLACK BULBUL.) 



Hypsipetes ganeesa, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 87; Jard. & Selby, 111. Orn. 2nd ser. pi. 2 ; 



Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. App. p. 339 (1849) ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. 



i. p. 255 (1854) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 79 (1863, in part) ; Blyth, Ibis, 1865, p. 42 ; 



Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 450 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 400 ; Fairbank, ibid. 1877, 



p. 405. 

 Hypsipetes nilghiriensis, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1839, x. p. 245 ; Blyth, Cat. 



B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 207 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 123 (1852); Layard, Ann. 



& Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 125 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 78 (1863, in pt.) ; Hume. 



Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 280 (1874) ; id. Str. Feath. 1873, p. 438. 

 The Nilgherry Black Bulbul and The Ghat Black Bulbul (Jerdon). 

 Kele kondiya, Sinhalese. 



Male. Length 9'6 to 10-5 inches; wing 4-5 to 4-9; tail 4-3; tarsus 0-8; mid toe and claw 0-85 to 0-9; bill to 

 gape 1*35. 



Iris faded red or orange, with a dusky tinge ; bill coral-red, the nostril-membrane brown ; legs and feet yellowish red, 

 the claws blackish (these latter fade in dried specimens). 



Lores, forehead, head, and nape glossy black, -with a greenish lustre in freshly moulted birds ; hind neck, back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts dull bluish slate, the centres of the back-feathers dark ; wings and tail dull brown, the wing- 

 coverts, secondaries, innermost primaries, and tail-feathers at their bases edged with bluish ashy, the latter 

 faintly so ; cheeks and ear-coverts cinereous brown ; chin darkish ; throat, chest, and under surface faded slate- 

 grey, paling on the abdomen ; under tail-coverts slaty brown, with dark shafts and whitish edges. 



Adult female. Length 9-6 inches; wing 4-4; tail 3-6; tarsus 07; bill to gape 1*2. 

 Iris, in some examples I have examined, slightly brownish. 

 Plumage similar to that of the male. 



Young. Birds of the year have the tip of the bill and space round the nostril blackish ; iris yellowish brown ; legs 



and feet dusky yellowish. 

 Throat and under surface lighter than in the adult ; wings and tail browner, or of a paler hue than in old birds ; the 



quills deeply margined with pale tawny, and the edges of the tail-feathers slightly coloured with the same. 



Obs. This bird has been known under two names — H. ganeesa of Sykes and H. nilghiriensis of Jerdon. The former 

 author described his type from the Ghats, and birds from that region were accordingly kept as ganeesa ; while 

 those from the Nilghiris were separated by Jerdon under the above-mentioned specific name, which he likewise 

 applied to the Ceylones.e race. Blyth pointed out (Ibis, 1865) the identity of the two forms ; and Mr. Holds- 

 worth accordingly applied Sykes's title to our birds. I cannot do better than subjoin Mr. Hume's note on this 

 subject, written after he had fully satisfied himself that these two supposed species were one and the same. He 

 writes (Str. Feath. 1876, p. 400) : — " I have carefully compared seven specimens from Mahabaleshwar with nine from 

 the Nilghiris, three from the Assamboo hills, and four from Ceylon. I find that adults and young birds from the 

 three former localities are precisely similar ; in the younger birds the bills are browner and the wings smaller, but 

 there is no difficulty in matching any Mahabaleshwar bird with some Nilghiri one. Birds from Ceylon are, in all 

 respects but one, identical with those from the other localities ; but they certainly do appear to have somewhat 

 larger bills. I entertain no doubt that the birds from all these localities should henceforth stand under Sykes"s 

 name of ganeesa." Blyth noticed a peculiarity in the Ceylon birds in that they were paler than those from South 

 India. I have compared Ceylonese specimens with some from the Bombay district and Madras Presidency, and 

 find scarcely any appreciable difference, except, perhaps, in the throat and flanks, which, in the Indian examples, 

 are somewhat darker than in ours. A bird from Matheran measures 4 - 4 inches in the wing, and 1*21 in the bill 

 from gape to tip. 



