Of the three species found within our limits it is extremely difficult to decide what relationship M. vi. melanocephalus and M. cinereoventris bear to one another. It is true the former is often found in flocks with no individual of the latter but neither Mr. H. A. Hole, who knew this bird very well, nor I myself have ever seen a flock of the latter without some of the former. The plumage of the Grey-breasted Bulbul is merely that of the Black- headed Bulbul with the yellow eliminated on some portions and this in varying degree. One of Lord Tweeddale's birds is described by him as being "in a stage of transition from yellow to grey." A specimen in the collection of Jfr. Hole showed traces of green on the hind-neck but was otherwise of purely cinereo- ventris type; a third, a young male shot by myself, appears also to be in a transition stage between the two forms. I expect, when the necessary evidence is obtainable, the two will be found to be one and the same bird. Age and sex have nothing to do w-ith the matter, but no one has yet been able to prove that they breed together, however closely they may accompany one another in the non-breeding season. Ket/ to Species and Subspecies^. A. Lower plumage yellow or olive- yellow. " [cephalus, p. 423. a. Head entirely black M. melanocephalus melaiio- b. Head above bluish grey. a'. Upper tail-coverts yellow .... 31. m. fusci/lavesce7is, i. 42-'). b' . Upper tail-coverts bluish grey . M. poiocephalm, p. 425. B. Lower pUuuaire bluish grey M. cinereoventris, p. 42'o.
(439) Microtarsus melanocephalus melanocephalus.
The Black-he.vdkd Bulbul.
- Lanius melanocephalus Gmel., S. N., i, p. 309 (1788) (Sandwich in mares australis).
- Micropus melanocephalus. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 294.
Vernacular names. Dao-hulip-(jarasha (Cachari).
Description. Whole head, throat and upper breast black, glossed with blue and purple; remainder of upper plumage olive-yellow, brighter on the rump and yellow on the upper tail-coverts; breast and flanks the same, shading into bright yellow on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; tail olive-yellow for half its length, then black and tipped with yellow, narrowly on the centre feathers and increasingly broadly on the others; primary-coverts dull black, narrowly edged with olive-yellow, other coverts wholly of this colour on the outer webs; primaries and outer secondaries black, the first obsolet^ly, the latter broadly, edged with olive-yellow; the visible inner secondaries all ohve-yellow; the feathers of the rump and upper tail-coverts are very dark grey at the base and then black, the tips alone being broadly yellow so that the rump nearly always appears barred with black, though in a perfect specimen the rump looks almost immaculate vellow.
