. Birds .. . ood ilyerswhen really forced to take wing into the open, with a faster,more direct flight than most Bnlbuls. Their principal note ig a loud, mellow whistle, as referred to by Jerdon but they arereally rather silent birds on the whole. They consort in smallflocks in the non-breeding season and eat fruits, seeds and Genus MOLPASTES Hume, 1873. The genus iWoZjiasies comprises some Bulbuls which are amongstthe most familiar of Indian and Burmese garden birds. They arevery widely distributed and though there are but few speciesthese are represented by very numerous geographic
. Birds .. . ood ilyerswhen really forced to take wing into the open, with a faster,more direct flight than most Bnlbuls. Their principal note ig a loud, mellow whistle, as referred to by Jerdon but they arereally rather silent birds on the whole. They consort in smallflocks in the non-breeding season and eat fruits, seeds and Genus MOLPASTES Hume, 1873. The genus iWoZjiasies comprises some Bulbuls which are amongstthe most familiar of Indian and Burmese garden birds. They arevery widely distributed and though there are but few speciesthese are represented by very numerous geographical races. In Molpastes the crest is thick and of considerable length, thefeathers growing from every portion of the crown and napeThe nuchal hairs are extremely short and difficult to detect. Thewing is blunt and the tail very slightly rounded. All the birds ofthis genus are remarkable for the bright colour of the under tail-coverts and are further to be recognized by the broad white tipsto the ■sfei^? Fig- 77-—Head of M. I, humii. One of the species or races hitherto recognized cannot bemaintained. Tins is Molpastes marjrathi CWliiteliead, O. C, sxi, p. 48) which is only a rather common liybvid betweenM. It. iniermedius and M. leucoiis, partaking of the characters ofthese two birds in varying degree, some individuals showingmore of the former and some more of the latter. The question of the status of the Chinese birds one of some doubt. Eobinson and Kloss consider that thereare two good species, cliryaorrhoides and hcmion-hous, both con-taining one or more races. To me it seems that we have but onespecies, extending from Ceylon to China, for there is no realbreak in the continuity of gradation from the dark western forms 382 PTCNOJfOTID^. with blaclc ear-coverts to the pale eastern forms with almostwhite ear-coverts. At the same time, all along the joining line ofMolpastes h. hurmanicus, M. h. nigripiUus and M. h. bengalensison the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1922
