e 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
cla