Part 24

Otocompsa leucogenys (_Gray), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 90; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 458.

The White-cheeked Bulbul breeds throughout the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to Bhootan, from April to July, and at all heights from 3000 to 7000 feet. The nest is a loose, slender fabric, externally composed of fine stems of some herbaceous plant and a few blades of grass, and internally lined with very fine hair-like grass. The nests may measure externally, at most, 4 inches in diameter; but the egg-cavity, which is in proportion very large and deep, is fully 2¼ inches across by 1¾ inch deep. As I before said, the nest is usually very slightly and loosely put together, so that it is difficult to remove it without injury; but sometimes they are more substantial, and occasionally the cup is much shallower and wider than I have above described. Four is the full complement of eggs.

Captain Unwin says:--"I found a nest containing three fresh eggs near the village of Jaskote, in the Agrore Valley, on the 24th April, 1870. The nest was placed about 5 feet from the ground in a small wild ber-tree in a water-course. On the 7th May I found another nest placed in a small thick cheer-tree in the same valley, which contained four eggs."

From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall tells us that this species "breeds in the valleys, at about 4000 or 5000 feet up, in the end of June. Lays four eggs with a white ground, very thickly blotched with claret-red; nest roughly made of grass and roots, in low bushes."

About Simla and the valleys of the Sutlej and Beas I have found it common, and my experience of its nidification in these localities has been above recorded.

From Mussoorie, Captain Hutton wrote that it is "common in the Dhoon throughout the year, and in the hills during the summer. It breeds in April and May. The nest is neat and cup-shaped, placed in the forks of bushes or pollard trees, and is composed externally of the dried stalks of forget-me-not, lined with fine grass-stalks. Eggs three or four, rosy or faint purplish white, thickly sprinkled with specks and spots of darker rufescent purple or claret colour. Sometimes the outside of the nest is composed of fine dried stalks of woody plants, whose roughness causes them to adhere together."

Mr. W.E. Brooks remarks:--"I found this bird common at Almorah, and procured several nests. They were placed in a bush or small tree, and were slightly composed of fine grass, roots, and fibres: eggs three; ground-colour purplish white, speckled all over, most densely at the larger end, with spots and blotches of purple-brown and purplish grey: laying in Kumaon from the beginning of May to June."

Dr. Scully states that in Nepal this Bulbul "breeds in May and June, principally at elevations of from 5000 to 6000 feet. Its nests were secured on the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 14th, and 28th June; the usual number of eggs laid seems to be three."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:--"This species breeds both at Naini Tal (7000 feet) and at Bheem Tal (4000 feet). In Kumaon the eggs seem to be laid in the first half of June; the earliest date I have taken them was a single fresh egg on the 23rd May, and the latest, four eggs on the 25th Jane: the nest is seldom more than six feet from the ground, and is placed either in a thick bush or in the outer twigs of a low bough of a tree."

The eggs are of the regular Bulbul type, as exemplified in those of _Molpastes haemorrhous_, and vary much in colour, size, and shape. Typically they are rather a long oval, somewhat pointed at one end, have a pinkish or reddish-white ground with little or no gloss, and are thickly speckled, freckled, streaked, or blotched, as the case may be, with blood-, brownish-, or purplish-red, &c., and here and there, chiefly towards the large end, exhibit, besides these primary markings, tiny underlying spots and clouds of pale inky purple. Some eggs have a pretty well-marked zone or irregular cap at the large end, but this is not very common. In size they average somewhat larger than those of _Molpastes leucotis_ and _Otocompsa emeria_, both of which they closely resemble; but they are smaller and as a body less richly coloured than those of _O. fuscicaudata_. They vary in length from 0·82 to 0·95, and from 0·58 to 0·7 in breadth; but the average of fifty-seven specimens measured was 0·88 by 0·65.

285. Molpastes leucotis (Gould). _The White-eared Bulbul_.

Otocompsa leucotis (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii. p. 91; _Hume. Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 459.

The White-eared Bulbul is, so far as my experience goes, entirely a Western Indian form. In the cold weather it may be met with at Agra, Cawnpoor, and even Jhansi, Saugor, and Hoshungabad; but during the summer months I only know of its occurring in Cutch, Katywar, Sindh, Rajpootana, and the Punjab. In all these localities it breeds, laying for the most part in July and August in the Punjab, but somewhat earlier in Sindh. I have, even in Rajpootana, seen eggs towards the end of May, but this is the exception.

The nests are usually in dense and thorny bushes--acacias, catechu, and jhand (_Prosopis spicigera_)--and are placed at heights of from 4 to 6 feet from the ground. The Customs hedge is a great place for their nests, but I have noticed that they are partial to bushes in the immediate neighbourhood of water; and at Hansie, whence he sent me many nests and eggs, Mr. W. Blewitt always found them either in the fort ditch or along the banks of the canal.

The nests, which very much resemble those of _Molpastes haemorrhous_, are usually composed of very fine dry twigs of some herbaceous plant, intermingled with vegetable fibre resembling tow, and scantily lined with very fine grass-roots. They are rather slender structures, shallow cups measuring internally from 2·5 to 3 inches in diameter, and a little more than 1 inch in depth. Three was the largest number of eggs I ever found in any nest, and several sets were fully incubated.

Mr. W. Theobald makes the following note on the nidification of this bird in the neighbourhood of Pind Dadan Khan and Katas in the Salt Range:--"Lay in May, June, and July: eggs four; shape ovato pyriform; size 0·91 inch by 0·64 inch: colour white, much dotted with claret-red; nest a neat cup of vegetable fibres in bushes,"

Mr. S. Doig informs us that this bird breeds on the Eastern Narra in Sind from May to August.

Colonel Butler writes:--"I found a nest of the White-eared Bulbul at Deesa on the 5th August containing three fresh eggs. It was placed in the fork of a low Beer tree about 4 feet from the ground, and in structure closely resembled the nest of _M. haemorrhous_.

"On the 17th August I found another nest built by the same pair of birds in an exactly similar situation, about 60 yards from the first nest, containing three more fresh eggs."

The eggs, which I need not here describe in detail, are precisely similar to, but as a body slightly smaller than, those of _Molpastes leucogenys_. The only point of difference that I seem to notice, and this might disappear with a larger series before me, is that there is a rather greater tendency in the eggs of this species to exhibit a zone or cap. In length they vary from 0·75 to 0·9, and in breadth from 0·52 to 0·68; but the average of twenty-three eggs measured was 0·83 barely, by 0·64.

288. Otocompsa emeria(Linn.). _The Bengal Red-whiskered Bulbul_.

Otocompsa jocosa (_L.), Jerd. B. Ind_ ii, p, 92 (part). Otocompsa emeria (_Shaw), Hume, Rough Draft N.& E._ no. 460.

The Bengal Red-whiskered Bulbul breeds from March to the end of May. Its nest is placed, according to my experience in Lower Bengal, in any thick bush, clump of grass, or knot of creepers; sometimes in the immediate proximity of native villages or in the gardens of Europeans, and sometimes quite away in the jungle. It is a typical Bulbul nest, a broad shallow saucer, compactly put together with twigs of herbaceous plants, amongst which, especially towards the base, a few dry leaves are incorporated, and lined with roots or fine grass. Exteriorly a little cobweb is wound on to keep twigs and leaves firm and in their places. All the nests that I have seen were tolerably near the ground, at heights ranging from 3 to 5 feet.

Three is the normal number of the eggs, but only the other day we obtained one containing four.

Mr. R.M. Adam says:--"This bird is very common in Oudh. It affects gardens and low scrub-jungle, flying about with a jerky flight from bush to bush. They are very fond of the fruit of the mangot-tree (_F. indica_), and may be seen in great numbers about these trees when the fruit is ripe. Their note is something like that of the common Bulbul, but livelier and louder. I have seen a number of this year's young birds well grown, but as yet without the red cheek-tuft.

"They build in clamps of moong-grass about 2 to 3 feet from the ground. One I found in the tendrils of a creeper about 20 feet from the ground. The nest is well fixed in the grass and fastened to it by the intertwining of some of the fibres of which it is composed. It is cup-shaped, and measures 4 inches in diameter, about 0·75 in thickness, with an egg-cavity 2·75 in diameter and 1·5 deep.

"The nest is formed of roots, twigs, and grass loosely worked together, and over the exterior, with the view of binding the mass together, dried or skeleton leaves, pieces of cloth, broad pieces of grass, and plaintain-bark are fastened carelessly on by means of cobwebs and the silk from cocoons. The egg-cavity is lined with fine roots.

"I never have found more than three eggs; on several occasions only two."

I do not think it possible to separate the Andaman bird. Of its nidification in those islands Mr. Davison says:--"I found a nest of this species in April near Port Blair, in a low mangrove-bush growing quite at the edge of the water; it (the nest) was cup-shaped and composed of roots, dried leaves, and small pieces of bark, lined with fine roots and cocoanut fibres; it contained three eggs, with a pinkish-white ground thickly mottled and blotched with purplish red, the spots coalescing at the thicker end to form a zone."

Mr. J.H. Cripps writes from Eastern Bengal:--"Very common and a permanent resident; it freely enters gardens and orchards. In my garden there was a kamiinee-tree (_Murraya exotica_), in which I found a nest of this species on the 27th March in course of construction; and on looking at it on the 12th April found two young that had just been hatched. Cane-brakes are favourite places for them to nest in. On the 6th May I found a nest in one of these about 4 feet off the ground, and containing three partly incubated eggs. This species does not, as a rule, build in such exposed situations as _M. bengalensis_; it eats the fruit of jungly trees, _Ficis_, &c., as well as insects."

On the breeding of this Bulbul in Pegu Mr. Gates remarks:--"This bird breeds as early as February, on the 27th of which month I procured a nest with two eggs nearly hatched. It stops nesting, I think, at the beginning of the rains."

Mr. W. Davison informs us that he "took a nest of this bird at Bankasoon, in Southern Tenasserim, on the 15th March. It was placed in a small bush growing in an old garden about 4 feet above the ground. The nest was of the usual type, a compactly-woven cup, composed externally of dry twigs, leaves, &c., the egg-cavity lined with fibres. It contained three nearly fresh eggs."

The eggs in size, colour, and shape closely resemble those of _Molpastes leucotis_. All that I have said in regard to these latter is applicable to those of the present species, and, so far as varieties of coloration go, the description of the eggs of _Molpastes leucogenys_ is equally applicable to those of the present species. If any distinction can be drawn, it is that, as a body, bold blotches of rich red and pale purple are more commonly exhibited in the eggs of this species than in those of either of the preceding ones.

In length the eggs vary from 0·8 to 0·9, and in breadth from 0·85 to 0·7, but the average of twenty-seven eggs was 0·83 nearly, by 0·63 barely.

289. Otocompsa fuscicaudata, Gould. _The Southern Red-whiskered Bulbul_.

Otocompsa fuscicaudata, _Gould, Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 400 bis.

The Southern Red-whiskered Bulbul is found throughout the more hilly and more or less elevated tracts of the peninsula, from Cape Comorin northwards as far as Mount Aboo on the west, and the Eastern Ghâts, above Nellore, on the east. How far northwards it extends in the centre of the peninsula I am not certain, but I have seen a specimen from the Satpooras.

They breed any time from the beginning of February to the end of May. Their nests are usually placed at no great height from the ground (say at from 2 to 6 feet) in some thick bush.

The nests of this species that I procured at Mount Aboo, and which have been sent me by Mr. Carter both from Coonoor and Salem, and by other friends from other parts of the Nilghiris, where the bird is excessively common, very much resemble those of _O. emeria_, but they are somewhat neater and more substantial in structure. They differ a good deal in size and shape, as the nests of Bulbuls are wont to do. Some are rather broad and shallow, with egg-cavities measuring 3¼ inches across, and perhaps 1 inch in depth; while others are deeper and more cup-shaped, the cavity measuring only 2½ inches across and fully 1½ inch in depth. They are composed in some cases almost wholly of grass-roots, in others of very fine twigs of the furash (_Tamarix furas_) in others again of rather fine grass, and all have a quantity of dead leaves or dry ferns worked into the bottom, and all are lined with either very fine grass or very fine grass-roots. The external diameter averages about 4½ inches, but some stand fully 3 inches high, while others are not above 2 inches in height. As might be expected, the White-cheeked and White-eared and the two Red-whiskered Bulbuls' types of architecture differ considerably; _inter se_, the nests of _M. leucotis_ and _M. leucogenys_ differ just sufficiently to render it generally possible to separate them, and the same may be said of the nests of _O. emeria_ and _O. fuscicaudata_. But there is a very wide difference between the nests of the two former and the two latter species, so that it would be scarcely possible to mistake a nest belonging to the one group for that of the other. The incorporation of a quantity of dead leaves in the body of the nests, reminding one much, of those of the English Nightingale, is characteristic of the Red-whiskered Bulbul, and is scarcely to be met with in those of the White-cheeked or White-eared ones.

Mr. H.R.P. Carter says:--"At Coonoor on the Nilghiris I have found the nests from the 13th March to the 22nd April, but I believe they commence laying in February. They are generally placed in coffee-bushes and low shrubs, as a rule in a fork, but I have frequently found them suspended between the twigs of a bush which had no fork. I have also found the nest of this bird in the thatch of the eaves of a deserted bungalow, and in tufts of grass on the edge of a cutting overhanging the public road.

"The nest is cup-shaped, rather loosely constructed outside, but closely and neatly finished inside. The outside is nearly always fern-leaves at the bottom, coarse grass and fibres above, and lined inside either with fine fibres or fine grass.

"I have never found more than two eggs, and I have taken great numbers of nests; but I am told that three in a nest is not uncommon."

Writing from Kotagherry, Miss Cockburn says:--"Our Red-whiskered Bulbul builds a cup-shaped nest in any thick bush. The foundation is generally laid with pieces of dry leaves and fern, after which small sticks are added, and the whole neatly finished with a lining of fine grass. They lay two (sometimes three) very prettily spotted eggs of different shades of red and white, which are found in February, March, and April."

Mr. Wait remarks:--"This bird breeds at Coonoor from February to June. It builds usually in isolated bushes and shrubs, in gardens and open jungle. The nest is cup-shaped, loosely but strongly built of grass-bents, rooty fibres, and thin stalks, and is lined with finer grass-stems and roots. I think the internal diameter averages about 2½ inches, and about an inch in depth; but they vary a good deal in size. They lay two or three eggs, rarely four; and the eggs vary a good deal in shape and size, being sometimes very round and sometimes comparatively long ovals. The birds swarm on oar coffee estates, and breed freely in the coffee-bushes."

Dr. Jerdon says:--"I have frequently had its nest and eggs brought me on the Nilghiris. The nest was very neatly made, deep, cup-shaped, of moss, lichens, and small roots, lined with hair and down. The eggs are barely distinguishable from those of the next bird (_M. bengalensis_), being reddish white with spots of purplish or lake-red all over, larger at the thick end."

But Dr. Jerdon rarely took nests with his own hand, and in this case clearly wrong nests must have been brought to him.

From Trevandrum Mr. F. Bourdillon says:--"It lays three or four eggs of a pale pink colour, with purple spots, in a nest of roots, lined with finer roots and interwoven with the leaves of a jungle-shrub gathered green. The nest, 3 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep, is generally situated in a bush 4 to 5 feet from the ground."

Mr. J. Davidson remarks:--"This bird simply swarms along the Western Ghâts from Mahabuleshwur down the Koina and Werna valleys, and seems to have a very extended breeding-time. Last year (1873) I took its nests in March and May on several occasions, and this year I found three nests in March and April in the Werna valley; and the Hill people, who seem intelligent and fairly trustworthy, stated that this species breeds there throughout the Rains, a season when, owing to the tremendous rainfall, no European can remain. If this be true they must breed at least twice a year. All the nests I saw were placed in bushes from 2 to 4 feet high, some of them most carefully concealed amongst thorns. Out of, I think, nine nests, all taken by myself personally, I never found more than two eggs in any; and on two occasions last year I obtained single eggs nearly fully incubated."

Messrs Davidson and Wenden, writing of the Deccan, remark:--"Commonish in wooded localities. D. took several nests in the Satara Hills in March and the two following months."

Captain Butler writes:--"The Red-whiskered Bulbul is common at Mount Aboo and breeds in March, April, and May. The nest is usually placed in low bushes from 4 to 8 feet from the ground, and is a neat cup-shaped structure composed externally of fibrous roots and dry grass-stems, and lined with fine grass, horsehair, &c. Round the edge and woven into the outside I have generally found small spiders' nests looking like lumps of wool. The eggs, usually two but sometimes three in number, are of a pinkish-white colour, covered all over with spots and blotches and streaks of purplish or lake-red, forming a dense confluent cap at the large end. A nest I examined on the 24th April contained two nestlings almost ready to fly.

"On the 3rd May, 1875, I took a nest in a low carinda bush, containing two fresh eggs."

Mr. C.J.W. Taylor, writing from Manzeerabad, Mysore, says:--"Most abundant in the wooded district. Common everywhere. Eggs taken March and April. On the 5th July, 1883, I procured a, nest of this species with three pure white eggs. I found it in a coffee-bush the day before leaving, so snared parent bird to make sure it was _O. fuscicaudata_, or otherwise should have left a couple of the eggs to see if young would turn out true to parents."

Captain Horace Terry states that on the Pulney hills this species is "a most common bird, found wherever there are bushes. In the small bushes along the banks of the streams is a very favourite place. I found several nests with usually two, but sometimes three eggs."

Mr. Benjamin Aitken tells us:--"I never saw this bird in the plains, but it is, perhaps without exception, the commonest bird at Matheran, Khandalla, and other hill-stations in the Bombay Presidency. I have found the nests, always with eggs in May, placed from four to seven feet from the ground, and often in the most exposed situations. It is not unusual to find only two eggs in a nest. The bird is not in the least shy, and sets up no clatter, like the Common Bulbul, when its nest is disturbed."

Finally, Mr. J. Darling, Junior, remarks:--"I really wonder if anyone down south does not know the Red-whiskered Bulbul and its nest. On the Nilghiris and in the Wynaad I can safely say it is the commonest nest to be met with, built in all sorts of places, sometimes high up. They generally lay two, but very often three, eggs. In a friend's bungalow in the Wynaad there were three nests built on the wall-plate of the verandah and two eggs laid in each nest. The young were safely hatched.

"This year the nests have been rebuilt and contain eggs. As I am writing, there are two pairs building in a rose-bush about 3 yards from me. They breed from 15th February to 15th May."

The numerous eggs of this species that I possess, though truly Bulbul-like in character, all belong to one single type of that form. Almost all have a dull pinkish or reddish-white ground, very thickly freckled, mottled, and streaked all over with a rich red; in most blood-red, in others brick-red, underneath which, when closely looked into, a small number of pale inky-purple spots are visible. In half the number of eggs the markings are much densest at the large end: these eggs are one and all more brightly and intensely coloured than any of those that I possess of _M. leucotis, M. leucogenys_, and _O. emeria_; they are, moreover, larger than any of these.

In length they vary from 0·82 to 0·97, and in breadth from 0·63 to 0·71; but the average of thirty-six eggs measured was 0·9 by 0·66.

290. Otocompsa flaviventris (Tick.). _The Black-crested Yellow Bulbul_.

Rubigula flaviventris (_Tick._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 88. Pycnonotus flaviventris (_Tick._), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 456.