The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 written by Allan O. Hume

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The dimensions are excessively variable. In length the eggs vary from
0.7 to 1.02, and in breadth from 0.6 to 0.75, but the average of sixty
eggs measured was 0.89 by 0.65.

279. Molpastes burmanicus (Sharpe). _The Burmese Red-vented Bulbul._

The Burmese Red-vented Bulbul occurs from Manipur down to Rangoon.
Writing from Upper Pegu, Mr. Oates says:--"On the 29th July I found a
nest in the extremity of a bamboo-frond forming one of a large clump
near my house at Boulay. It was circular, the internal diameter about
2.5 and the external 4 inches; the depth inside 1.5, and the total
height 2.5. Foundation of dead leaves, the bulk of the nest coarse
grass and small roots, and the interior of much finer grass carefully
curved to shape. Altogether the nest was a very pretty structure. Two
eggs measured 0.9 by 0.62 and 0.65. Another nest found at the same
time was placed in a small shrub about 4 feet from the ground. It was
very similar in construction and size to the above and contained three
eggs."

Subsequently writing from Lower Pegu, he says:--"Breeds abundantly
from May to September, and has no particular preference for any one
month."

281. Molpastes atricapillus (Vieill.). _The Chinese Red-vented
Bulbul_.

Molpastes atricapillus (_V.), Hume, cat._ no. 462 ter.

Mr. J. Darling, Jr., found a nest of the Chinese Red-vented Bulbul in
Tenasserim with three fresh eggs on the 16th March. It was built in a
bush little more than a foot above the ground on a hill-side.

Except that they seem to run smaller, these eggs are not
distinguishable from those of the other species of this genus, and
there is really nothing to add to the description already given of the
eggs of _M. Haemorrhous_. The three eggs measured 0.79 by 0.6.

282. Molpastes bengalensis (Blyth). _The Bengal Red-vented Bulbul_.

Pycnonotus pygaeus (_Hodgs.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 93.
Molpastes pygmaeus (_Hodgs.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 461.

I have taken many nests of the Bengal Red-vented Bulbul in many
localities, and while the birds vary, getting less typical as you go
westwards, the nests are all pretty much the same, though the eastern
birds go in rather more for dead leaves than the western. Sikhim birds
are very typical, and I will therefore confine myself to quoting a
note I made there.

Several nests taken at Darjeeling in June, at elevations of from 2000
to 4000 feet, each contained three or four, more or less incubated,
eggs. The nests were mostly very compact and rather deep cups about 31/2
inches in diameter and 2 inches in height, very firmly woven of moss
and grass-roots, but with a certain quantity of dry and dead leaves,
and here and there a little cobweb worked into the outer surface.
Sometimes a little fine grass was used as a lining; but generally
there was no lining, only the roots that were used in finishing off
the interior of the nests were rather finer than those employed
elsewhere. The egg-cavity is very large for the size of the nest, the
sides, though very firm and compact, being scarcely above half an inch
in thickness. The nests differ very much in appearance, owing to the
fact that in some all the roots used are black, in others pale brown.

Mr. Gammie says:--"I took two or three nests of this species in the
latter half of May at Mongpho, in Sikhim, at elevations of 3500 feet
or thereabouts. They contained three eggs each, hard-set. The nests
were in trees, at a moderate height, and rather flimsy structures;
shallow caps, composed externally of fine twigs and vegetable fibre,
and generally some dead leaves intermingled, especially towards their
basal portions, and lined with the fine hair-like stem portion of the
flowering tops of grass. One nest measured internally 21/2 inches in
diameter by nearly 11/2 inch in depth; externally it was nearly 4 inches
in diameter and 2 inches in height. The eggs were of the usual type."

Mr. J.R. Cripps, writing from Fureedpore, Eastern Bengal,
says:--"Excessively common and a permanent resident; commits great
havoc in gardens amongst tomatoes and chillies, the red colour of
which seems to attract them. Builds its nest in very exposed places
and at all heights from two to thirty feet off the ground, in bushes
and trees. One nest I saw containing two young ones, on the 28th June,
was built on a small date-tree which stood on the side of a road along
which people were passing all day, and within six feet of them. The
nest was only five feet from the ground, but the materials of which it
was made and the colour of the bird assimilated so perfectly with the
bark of the tree that detection was difficult. I have found the nests
with eggs from the 3rd of April to the end of June; dead leaves and
cobwebs were incorporated with the twigs and grasses in all nests
which I have seen in Dacca. The natives keep these birds for fighting
purposes; large sums are lost at times on these combats."

Writing from Nepal, Dr. Scully remarks:--"It breeds in May and June in
the Residency grounds, the nests being very commonly placed in small
pine-trees (_Pinus longifolia_). Three is the usual number of eggs
found, and a clutch taken on the 29th May measured in length from 0.85
to 0.93, and in breadth from 0.64 to 0.65."

I have fully described the leading types of the eggs of these Bulbuls
under _Molpastes haemorrhous_. I shall therefore only here say that
the eggs of this species in shape and colour exactly resemble those
of its congener, but that as a body they are larger in size; every
variety observable in the eggs of the one is, as far as I know, to be
met with amongst those of the other. Taking only the eggs of typical
birds from Lower Bengal and Sikhim, they vary from 0.88 to 1.05 in
length and from 0.67 to 0.75 in breadth.

283. Molpastes intermedius (A. Hay). _The Punjab Red-vented Bulbul_.

All my specimens from the Salt Range belong to this species, and not
to _M. bengalensis_, so that Mr. W. Theobald's remarks in regard to
the Common Bulbul's nidification about Pind Dadan Khan and the Salt
Range must refer to this species. He says: "Lay in May, June, and
July; eggs, four: shape, blunt ovato-pyriform; size, 0.87 by 0.62;
colour, deep pink, blotched with deep claret-red; nest, a neat cup of
vegetable fibres in bushes."

From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall writes:--"This Bulbul breds in
large numbers on the lower hills."

From Mussoorie, Captain Hutton remarked:--"This is more properly a
Dhoon species, as although it does ascend the hills, it is represented
there to a great extent by _M. leucogenys_. It breeds in April, May,
and June, constructing its nest in some thick bush. On the 12th May
one nest contained three eggs of a rosy-white, thickly irrorated and
blotched with purple or deep claret colour, and at the larger end
confluently stained with dull purple, appearing as if beneath the
shell. The nest is small and cup-shaped, composed of fine roots, dry
grasses, flower-stalks chiefly of forget-me-not, and a few dead leaves
occasionally interwoven; in some the outside is also smeared over here
and there with cobwebs and silky seed-down; the lining is usually of
very fine roots. Some nests have four eggs, which are liable to great
variation both in the intensity of colouring and in the size and
number of spots."

284. Molpastes leucogenys (Gr.). _The White-cheeked Bulbul_.

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 21/4
inches across by 13/4 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 Ghats,
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 31/4
inches across, and perhaps 1 inch in depth; while others are deeper
and more cup-shaped, the cavity measuring only 21/2 inches across and
fully 11/2 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 41/2 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 21/2
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
Ghats 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."