Otocompsa leucogenys (_Gray), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 90; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 458.
The White-cheeked Bulbul breeds throughout the Himalayas, from
Afghanistan to Bhootan, from April to July, and at all heights from
3000 to 7000 feet. The nest is a loose, slender fabric, externally
composed of fine stems of some herbaceous plant and a few blades of
grass, and internally lined with very fine hair-like grass. The
nests may measure externally, at most, 4 inches in diameter; but the
egg-cavity, which is in proportion very large and deep, is fully 2¼
inches across by 1¾ inch deep. As I before said, the nest is usually
very slightly and loosely put together, so that it is difficult to
remove it without injury; but sometimes they are more substantial, and
occasionally the cup is much shallower and wider than I have above
described. Four is the full complement of eggs.
Captain Unwin says:--"I found a nest containing three fresh eggs near
the village of Jaskote, in the Agrore Valley, on the 24th April, 1870.
The nest was placed about 5 feet from the ground in a small wild
ber-tree in a water-course. On the 7th May I found another nest placed
in a small thick cheer-tree in the same valley, which contained four
eggs."
From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall tells us that this species
"breeds in the valleys, at about 4000 or 5000 feet up, in the end of
June. Lays four eggs with a white ground, very thickly blotched with
claret-red; nest roughly made of grass and roots, in low bushes."
About Simla and the valleys of the Sutlej and Beas I have found it
common, and my experience of its nidification in these localities has
been above recorded.
From Mussoorie, Captain Hutton wrote that it is "common in the Dhoon
throughout the year, and in the hills during the summer. It breeds in
April and May. The nest is neat and cup-shaped, placed in the forks
of bushes or pollard trees, and is composed externally of the dried
stalks of forget-me-not, lined with fine grass-stalks. Eggs three or
four, rosy or faint purplish white, thickly sprinkled with specks
and spots of darker rufescent purple or claret colour. Sometimes the
outside of the nest is composed of fine dried stalks of woody plants,
whose roughness causes them to adhere together."
Mr. W.E. Brooks remarks:--"I found this bird common at Almorah, and
procured several nests. They were placed in a bush or small tree, and
were slightly composed of fine grass, roots, and fibres: eggs three;
ground-colour purplish white, speckled all over, most densely at the
larger end, with spots and blotches of purple-brown and purplish grey:
laying in Kumaon from the beginning of May to June."
Dr. Scully states that in Nepal this Bulbul "breeds in May and June,
principally at elevations of from 5000 to 6000 feet. Its nests were
secured on the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 14th, and 28th June; the usual number of
eggs laid seems to be three."
Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:--"This species breeds both at Naini
Tal (7000 feet) and at Bheem Tal (4000 feet). In Kumaon the eggs seem
to be laid in the first half of June; the earliest date I have taken
them was a single fresh egg on the 23rd May, and the latest, four
eggs on the 25th Jane: the nest is seldom more than six feet from the
ground, and is placed either in a thick bush or in the outer twigs of
a low bough of a tree."
The eggs are of the regular Bulbul type, as exemplified in those of
_Molpastes haemorrhous_, and vary much in colour, size, and shape.
Typically they are rather a long oval, somewhat pointed at one end,
have a pinkish or reddish-white ground with little or no gloss, and
are thickly speckled, freckled, streaked, or blotched, as the case may
be, with blood-, brownish-, or purplish-red, &c., and here and
there, chiefly towards the large end, exhibit, besides these primary
markings, tiny underlying spots and clouds of pale inky purple. Some
eggs have a pretty well-marked zone or irregular cap at the large end,
but this is not very common. In size they average somewhat larger than
those of _Molpastes leucotis_ and _Otocompsa emeria_, both of which
they closely resemble; but they are smaller and as a body less richly
coloured than those of _O. fuscicaudata_. They vary in length from
0·82 to 0·95, and from 0·58 to 0·7 in breadth; but the average of
fifty-seven specimens measured was 0·88 by 0·65.