Several nests of this species sent me by the late Mr. Mandelli and
obtained by him in British and Native Sikhim during July and the early
part of August are all precisely of the same type. They each contained
two fresh eggs; they were all placed in the branches of small trees in
the midst of dense brushwood or heavy jungle, at heights of from 4 to
10 feet from the ground. The nests are broad and saucer-like, nearly
5 inches in diameter, but not much above 2 in height externally; the
cavities average about 3·25 in diameter and about 1 in depth. The body
of the nest is composed of dead leaves, the sides are more or less
felted round with rich brown fibrous, almost wool-like roots; inside
the leaves fine twigs and stems of herbaceous plants, all of a uniform
brown tint, are wound round and round, apparently to keep the leaves
in their places interiorly, and then the cavity is lined with
jet-black horsehair-like vegetable fibres. What these are I do not
know, but they are precisely like horsehair to look at, only they are
comparatively brittle. The contrast of colour between the jet-black
lining and the rich brown of the lip of the saucer, which is constant
in all the nests, is very striking.
The eggs of this species sent me by Mr. Mandelli, obtained by him in
Sikhim at elevations of from 2000 to 4000 feet in July and the early
part of August, possess a very distinctive character. They are broad
ovals, much pointed towards the small end, and they are more glossy
than the eggs of any other of this family with which I am acquainted.
The ground-colour is pink. The markings consist of curious hair-line
scratches, clouded blotches, and irregular spots--in some eggs all
very hazy and ill-defined, in others more scratchy and sharp. The
great majority of the markings seem to be gathered together into
an irregular and imperfect zone round the large end. In colour the
markings vary from a deep brownish maroon to a dull brickdust-red,
sometimes they are slightly more purplish. In some eggs a few faint
clouds or small spots of subsurface-looking dusky purple may be
noticed mingled with the rest of the markings.
These eggs are totally unlike the eggs of _Criniger ictericus_. I have
never had an opportunity of verifying the eggs myself, but as three
different nests have now been taken, all containing precisely similar
eggs, I believe there can be no doubt of their authenticity.
269. Hypsipetes psaroides, Vigors. _The Himalayan Black Bulbul_.
Hypsipetes psaroides (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind_ ii, p. 77; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 444.
The Himalayan Black Bulbul breeds throughout the outer and lower
ranges of the Himalayas, at any rate from Bhootan to Afghanistan, at
elevations varying from 2000 to 6000 feet.
They lay mostly in May and June, but eggs may occasionally be met with
during the latter half of April.