THE BURMESE RED-VENTED BULBUL. 
189 
Genus PYCNONOTUS, Boie. 
183. PYCNONOTUS BURMANICUS. 
THE BURMESE RED-VENTED BULBUL. 
Pycnonotus haemorrhous, apud Bl. 8f Wold. B. Burm. p. 135. Molpastes pyg- 
maeus (Hodgs.), Hume, S. F. iii. p. 126. Molpastes intermedius {Hmj), 
Armstrong, 8. F. iv. p. 326; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 98. Pycnonotus pygaeus 
(Hodgs.), Oafes, S. F. v. p, 157. Pycnonotus intermedius (Hay), Oates, S. F. 
V. p. 157. Pycnonotus nigripileus (BL), Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 658. 
Pycnonotus burmanicus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. Mus. vi. p. 125 ; Oates, S. F. 
X. p. 211. 
Description. — Male and female. Forehead^ crown_, lores^ cheeks, feathers 
round the eye, chin and throat black ; back, scapulars, rump and wing- 
coverts dark brown, each feather edged distinctly with whity brown except 
on the rump, where, owing to the loose character of the feathers, the 
edgings are less defined ; upper tail-coverts, which are much concealed by 
the rump-feathers, white, the longer ones tipped with brown with an 
occasional tioge of pink ; tail dark brown, paler at the base, the central 
pair of feathers obscurely, the others distinctly tipped with white ; breast 
blackish, each feather edged with whitish ; abdomen more or less white ; 
flanks whitish, streaked with brown ; under tail-coverts crimson ; wings 
brown, edged paler exteriorly. 
Young birds are tinged with fulvous above, the cap is brown, the under 
tail-coverts are very pale red, and the tail is tipped with brown. 
Bill and legs black ; iris dark brown. 
Length 8 inches, tail 3-8, wing 3*7, tarsus '9, bill from gape '85. The 
female is a little smaller. 
This species approaches nearest to P. hcemorrhous, and differs from it in 
having the ear- coverts of a lighter colour, contrasting with the crown and 
throat, also in having the breast blackish edged with whitish, as against a 
brownish breast edged with whitish in P. hcemorrhous . The distribution of 
the two species, coupled with the distinctions above noted, warrant 
Mr. Sharpe, in my opinion, in separating the Burmese species from 
P. hcemorrhous, which occurs in Ceylon, S. India generally, and extends 
westwards and northwards into Scinde. The two species are moreover 
separated by the notably distinct species P. pygceus, which inhabits Bengal, 
the Himalayas and Central India. In this species the black is not 
confined to the head only, but passes on to the back, and the breast is all 
black without any pale edgings to the feathers. Another species, doubtfully 
distinct in my opinion, occurs in the north-west of India ; it is close to 
P. pygaeus, but differs in having the back and breast brown instead of 
black. 
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