442. Brachypodius cinereoventris Blyth

(442) Brachypodius cinereoventris (Blyth).
THE GREY-BELLIED BULBUL.
Microtarsus cinereoventris, Fauna B. I., Birds, 2nd ed. vol. i, p. 426.
The range of this bird is identical with that of B. a. major, of which, I think, it will eventually prove to be, as I have always thought, merely a dimorphic variation.
A nest was taken on the 13th May in a valley at about 1,600 feet and in which, on the day previous, a nest of the Black-headed Bulbul had been taken. It was in a bush placed at about 2 feet above the ground but, as it was surrounded by a dense and unpleasantly thorny cane-brake, we could only get at it with difficulty. The nest contained three just-hatched young.
The only other nests which have been taken seem to be one with two eggs obtained by Kellow near Taiping and one got by one of my collectors on the Sylhet-Khasia Hills road in Assam, also with two eggs. All Kellow says of his nest is : “Nest a typical Bulbul’s nest in a low bush.”
U. Nissor, my collector, writes me about the nest found by him:—“ Taken in a low bush in very dense jungle.”
Both pairs of eggs are very typical pale pink eggs with the usual violet tinge and freckled and blotched, perhaps rather more strongly than usual, with, in one pair, pale chestnut-red, in the other pair with light brownish-red and lavender.
The eggs measure 21.4 x 15.4 and 20.1 x 15.1 mm., 23.4 x 16.1 and 22.3 x 17.0 mm. ; the second pair may prove to be exceptionally large.