round-colour. I found these birds migrating in vast
flights, numbering several thousands, in the Bolumputty valley in
July. They were flying westwards towards Malabar."

Mr. Darling, Junior, writes:--"I have taken the eggs of this Black
Bulbul every year from 1863 to 1870 during March, April, May, and part
of June, all over the Nilghiris. The nests were all made of moss, dry
leaves, and roots, lined with roots and fibres. I have only once found
three eggs (the normal number being two): in this case the eggs are
very much smaller than usual, and more blotched with the reddish
spots. I have found them at all heights from the ground up to 30 feet,
and mostly in rhododendron trees. I found two nests in S. Wynaad, at
an elevation of about 4000 feet, both with young, in June 1873."

Mr. C.J.W. Taylor informs us that he procured the nest of this bird
with three fresh eggs at Manzeerabad in Mysore on the 7th April.

Colonel Legge tells us that this Bulbul breeds in Ceylon from January
till March.

That the Nilghiris bird should lay usually only _two_ eggs, and this
seems a well ascertained fact, while our very closely allied Himalayan
form lays, as I can personally certify, regularly _four_, is certainly
very strange.

The eggs of this species, sent me from the Nilghiris by Messrs. Carter
and Davison, very closely resemble those of _H. psaroides_ from the
Himalayas. The eggs are of course of the Bulbul type, but in form are
typically much more elongated and conical than the true Bulbuls. The
ground-colour varies from white to a delicate pink. The markings
consist of different shades of deep red and pale washed-out purple. In
some the markings are bold, large, and blotchy, in others minute and
speckly; and in both forms there is a tendency to confluence towards
the large end, where there is commonly a more or less perfect, but
irregular, zone. The eggs though smooth and satiny have commonly
little or no gloss, and, considering their size, are very delicate and
fragile.

In length they vary from 1.0 to 1.17, and in breadth from 0.7 to 0.8.

275. Hemixus macclellandi (Horsf.). _The Rufous-bellied Bulbul_.

Hypsipetes mclellandi, _Horsf., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 79.
Hypsipetes m'clellandii, _Horsf., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 447.

The Rufous-bellied Bulbul, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in
the central region of Nepal, and low down nearly to the Terai, from
April to June. Its nest is a shallow saucer suspe