red bulbul (_Otocompsa
emeria_).

The addition of the adjective "Bengal" is important, for every
province of India has its own special species of bulbul.

The Molpastes bulbul is a bird about half as big again as the sparrow,
but with a longer tail. The black head is marked by a short crest.
The cheeks are brown. There is a conspicuous crimson patch under the
tail. The remainder of the plumage is brown, but each feather on the
body is margined with creamy white, so that the bird is marked by
a pattern that is, as "Eha" pointed out, not unlike the scales on
a fish. Both ends of the tail feathers are creamy white.

Otocompsa is a far more showy bird. The crest is long and pointed
and curves forward a little over the bill. There is the usual crimson
patch under the tail and another on each cheek. The rest of the cheek
is white, as is the lower plumage. A black necklace, interrupted in
front, marks the junction of the throat and the breast. Neither of
these bulbuls ascends the hills very high, but I have seen the former
at the Brewery below Naini Tal.

The common bulbul of the Himalayas is the white-cheeked species
(_Molpastes leucogenys_). This bird, which is very common at Almora,
has the habits of its brethren in the plains. Its crest is pointed
and its cheeks are white like those of an Otocompsa bulbul. But it
has rather a weedy appearance and lacks the red feathers on the sides
of the head. The patch of feathers under the tail is bright
sulphur-yellow instead of crimson.

The only other species of bulbul commonly seen in the hills is a very
different bird. It is known as the black bulbul (_Hypsipetes
psaroides_).

The bulbuls that we have been considering are inoffensive little birds
which lead quiet and respectable lives. Not so the black bulbuls.
These are aggressive, disreputable-looking creatures which go about
in disorderly, rowdy gangs.

The song of most bulbuls is a medley of pleasant tinkling notes; the
cries of the black bulbuls are harsh and unlovely.

Black bulbuls look black only when seen from a distance. When closely
inspected their plumage is seen to be dark grey. The bill and legs
are red. The crest, I regret to say, usually looks the worse for wear.
Black bulbuls seem never to descend to the ground. They keep almost
exclusively to tops of lofty trees. They are very partial to the nectar
enclosed within the calyces of rhododendron flowers. A party of half
a dozen untidy black birds, with mode