Pendulous Nests of the Baya Bird. 219 



prey singly. Here every field seemed to be alive by the con- 

 stant " bob forward " that perhaps one half at least, were 

 making at the same time, as they either sprang upon, or 

 looked for, a worm. This motion, which is compounded of 

 three jumps, is peculiar to all the genus that 1 have seen, and, 

 when at such a distance as not to be discovered otherwise, 

 they may be known by it. 



It occurred to me, that the extraordinary irruption of these 

 birds (for the whole valley was possessed by them, for more 

 than nine miles in length ; and of this fact I was a witness) 

 was nothing else but a part of the immense flock that annually 

 take their journey to the shores of the lochs on the west of 

 Ross and Sutherland, Harris, Lewes, and probably the Ork- 

 ney and Shetland Isles. They are evidently different from 

 our common mavis, being considerably less, darker in the 

 plumage, and less conspicuously mottled on the breast. 



I have every year since observed these birds resting and 

 feeding on their way, but never in such numbers as in 1829. 

 In 1831, they passed the junction of the Ettrick with the 

 Tweed about the middle of March; as on the 14th I find 

 that small flocks of them were seen feeding in the parks at 

 Abbotsford.* Several observations made from year to year 

 have convinced me of the regularity of this migration, and that 

 the bird will turn out a distinct species. I suspect that they 

 fly during the night only, and rest and feed during the day. 



February, 1833. 



Art. VII. On the pendulous Nests of the Indian Baya Bird 

 {Loxia philippina L.). By A Subscriber. 



As the descriptions, even in modern publications, of the 

 pendulous nest of the Indian baya (Loxia philippina L.) give 

 no very definite idea of its form, I send a rough sketch 

 {Jig, 22. a) of one of the most perfect I ever happened to 

 notice, with a section (b) to show its interior arrangement; 

 and sketches (c, d) 9 from recollection, of one in progress of 

 being built: the figures are one tenth of the natural size, 

 the extreme length being 15 in. The materials are usually 

 fibres of the fronds of the palmyra (Borassus flabelliformis L.), 

 cocoa nut palm (Cbcos nucifera JL.\ and wild date of India 

 (/Hate sylvestris Z/.), sometimes mixed with grass, and occa- 

 sionally made entirely of grass where palms are not to be 

 found : these are neatly interlaced, and form a texture of 



* The fieldfares did not pass until a month after. 



