Birds of the Indian Hills 



reasonably deny relationship to them as indig- 

 nantly as some human beings decline to acknow- 

 ledge apes and monkeys as poor relations. As 

 we have seen, most bulbuls are inoffensive, 

 respectable birds, that lead a quiet, domesticated 

 life. The cock and hen are so wrapped up in 

 one another as to pay little heed to the outer 

 world. Not so the black bulbuls. These are 

 the antithesis of everything bulbuline. They 

 are aggressive, disreputable-looking creatures, 

 who go about in disorderly, rowdy gangs. The 

 song of most bulbuls consists of many pleasant, 

 blithe tinkling notes ; that of the black bulbul, 

 or at any rate of the Himalayan black bulbul, 

 is scarcely as musical as the bray of the ass. 

 Most bulbuls are pretty birds and are most 

 particular about their personal appearance. 

 Black bulbuls are as untidy as it is possible for 

 a bird to be. The two types of bulbul stand 

 to one another in much the same relationship 

 as does the honest Breton peasant to the inhabi- 

 tant of the Quartier Latin in Paris. 



Black bulbuls belong to the genus Hypsi- 

 -petes. Three species occur in India — the 

 Himalayan (//. psaroides), the Burmese {H. 

 concolor), and the South Indian (//. ganeesa). 



All three species resemble one another closely 

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