enera--_Molpastes_ and
_Otocompsa_. The former is split up into a number of local species
which display only small differences in appearance and interbreed
freely at the places where they meet. They are known as the Madras,
the Bengal, the Punjab, etc., red-vented bulbul. They are somewhat
larger than sparrows. The head, which bears a short crest, and the
face are black; the rest of the body, except a patch of bright red
under the tail, is brown, each feather having a pale margin.

In _Otocompsa_ the crest is long and rises to a sharp point which
curves forward a little over the beak. The breast is white, set off by
a black gorget. There is the usual red patch under the tail and a
patch of the same hue on each side of the face, whence the English
name for the bird--the red-whiskered bulbul.

_Molpastes_ and _Otocompsa_ have similar habits. They are feckless
little birds that build cup-shaped nests in all manner of queer and
exposed situations. Those that live near the habitations of Europeans
nestle in low bushes in the garden, or in pot plants in the verandah.
Small crotons are often selected, preferably those that do not bear a
score of leaves. The sitting bulbul does not appear to mind the daily
shower-bath it receives when the _mali_ waters the plant. Sometimes as
many as three or four pairs of bulbuls attempt to rear up families in
one verandah. The word "attempt" is used advisedly, because, owing to
the exposed situations in which nests are built, large numbers of eggs
and young bulbuls are destroyed by boys, cats, snakes and other
predaceous creatures. The average bulbul loses six broods for every
one it succeeds in rearing. The eggs are pink with reddish markings.

March is the month in which to look for the nest of the Indian
wren-warbler (_Prinia inornata_). _Inornata_ is a very appropriate
specific name for this tiny earth-brown bird, which is devoid of all
kind of ornamentation. Its voice is as homely as its appearance--a
harsh but plaintive _twee_, _twee_, _twee_. It weaves a nest which
looks like a ragged loofah with a hole in the side. The nest is
usually placed low down in a bush or in long grass. Sometimes it is
attached to two or more stalks of corn. In such cases the corn is
often cut before the young birds have had time to leave the nest, and
then the brood perishes. This species brings up a second family in the
rainy season.

The barn-owls (_Strix flammea_) are now breeding. They lay their eggs