Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE SONG BIRDS
THE BULBULS
Green Bulbuls
The handsomest members of the family are the Green Bulbuls (Chloropsis) of southern and southeastern Asia, which have the plumage mainly bright green, set off with jet-black, blue, or orange and yellow. Thus the Golden-headed Green Bulbul (C. aurifrons) has the plumage a dark grass-green with the front of the head rich orange-yellow, the chin, cheeks, and upper throat bright blue, the sides of the head and lower throat black, while there is a collar of yellow and the shoulders and smaller wing-coverts of verdigris-blue. This species, and in fact all of its relatives, are rather solitary birds, going about in pairs or singly and frequenting trees, among the leaves of which they secure their food, which consists mainly of insects. According to Mr. Oates, they mimic the calls of other birds, and, notwithstanding their brilliant plumage, are difficult to detect among the leaves. The common Green Bulbul (C. jerdoni) of the Indian peninsula and Ceylon differs from the above species in having the forehead dull yellow and the upper parts light grass-green. According to Jer-don this species is usually met with in pairs, flitting about the extreme branches of trees, examining the leaves for insects. It has an agreeable call note, and builds a slight cup-shaped nest of fine grasses near the extremity of a branch; the eggs are white with a few claret blotches.
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