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Birds of Kohat and Kurram . 
[I clo not call these birds true P. leucogenys, as they are 
so much darker on the head, which is nearly blackish, and 
have not the olive on the back. They illustrate how variable 
is the coloration of this species in Kohat. In spite of its 
abundance it is difficult to procure an example true to type. 
Most of the birds seen have the breast mottled, i. e. in¬ 
stead of having the black of the upper breast clearly defined 
from the light colour of the lower parts, it graduates into it, 
frequently combined with a mottled back and sullied cheek- 
patches and a blackish head with or without a supercilium. 
Major Magrath, who has specially studied the Bulbuls in 
Bannu, kindly contributes the following note on the present 
species :— 
“Dr. Bowdler Sharpe is, I believe, inclined to the view 
that this Bulbul differs generically from Moipastes. With 
this I can hardly agree. Seen in its natural state, the bird 
is a true Moipastes. In habits and notes it differs little from 
the next species, with which it mixes freely, and from which 
it is anything but easy to distinguish when in a tree. It 
seems likely that the two species interbreed, but I have had 
no opportunity of observing a fertile cross, although I have 
seen wild birds which looked very like hybrids between the 
two species. The diet of the present species is perhaps more 
insectivorous than that of the next. It is much addicted to 
the habit of fly-catching in the evenings, and is often seen 
on the ground feeding on ants and grubs under trees. It is 
less of a garden bird than the next species. Its staple food 
in these parts is the berries of the Ber ( Zizyphus vulgaris) 
and Boquain ( Melia azedaracK) trees. Numbers of this 
species are caught in Bannu in w T inter and hawked about the 
bazaars, perched on pieces of stick, to which they are attached 
by a long string tied round the body. Although I have 
examined several of these captives and bought many in order 
to release them, in no case have I seen among them a bird 
of the next species, which is also so common at Bannu. I 
attribute the ease with which the present species is caught 
to its greater feebleness and to its partiality for the grubs 
of the white ant, with which the traps are usually baited : 
this attraction the birds are simply unable to resist.” 
ser. ix.— VOL. in. 
i 
