OTOCOMPSA. 181

characteristic of the Bed-whiskered Eulbul, and is scarcely to be
met with in those of the White-cheeked or White-eared ones.

Mr. li. B. P. Carter says:—" At Coonoor on the Nilghiris T
have found the nests from the 13th March to the 22nd April, hut

1 believe they commence laying in February. They are generally
placed in coffee-bushes and low shrubs, as a rule in a fork, but I
laave frequently found them suspended between the twigs of a
bush which had no fork. I have also fonnd 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 un-
common."

Writing from Ivotagherry, Miss Cockburn says :—" Our Bed-
whiskered Bulbul builds a cnp-shapecl 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 Feb-
ruary 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 dia-
meter averages about 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 some-
times very round and sometimes comparatively long ovals. The
birds swarm on our 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 [If. benyalensis], 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