562 BULLETIN 18 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



breeding males and all females differ in having the maxilla dusky 

 flesh and the mandible fleshy, duskier toward the tip. 



The male has the forehead, crown, nape, upper back, and sides of 

 the lower neck grayish olive-green (yellower on the forehead) ; the 

 lesser wing coverts, scapulars, and middle of the back chestnut-rufous ; 

 the rump and upper tail coverts grayish olive-green ; the wings black- 

 ish, the median coverts broadly tipped with grayish cream to form a 

 bar, the remaining feathers edged along the outer web with grayish 

 yellow; the rectrices blackish, very narrowly edged along the outer 

 web with grayish olive-green; the lores and ocular region black; a 

 broad band behind the eye, covering the superior ear coverts and the 

 anterior part of the sides of the neck, chestnut-rufous ; the chin and 

 center of the throat black; the remaining underparts grayish yellow, 

 brighter and purer yellow on the sides of the throat and the center of 

 the abdomen. The female has the upperparts dull light brown, 

 slightly suffused with olive on the crown and rump; a broad super- 

 cilium creamy or buffy; the underparts dull grayish yellow, rather 

 brighter on the throat and the center of the belly. 



PLOCEUS PHILIPPINUS BURMANICUS TLcehurst 



Indo-Chinese Baya 



Ploceus infortunatus burmanicus Ticehurst, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 52, 1932, 



pp. 104-105 (Akyab, Arakan, Burma). 

 Ploceus passerinus infortunatus, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. 



Handl., 1916, p. 28 (Chiang Rai). — de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 



Philadelphia, 1928, p. 559 (Chiang Mai). 

 Ploceus passerinus infortunatus [partim], Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1920, p. 456 



(Chiang Rai). 

 Ploceus atrigula infortunatus, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 



1931, p. 152 (Chiang Mai). — de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila- 

 delphia, 1934, p. 234 (Chiang Mai). 

 Ploceus philippinus infortunatus, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 



1936, p. 126 (Chiang Mai). 

 Ploceus philippinus infortunatus [partim], Riley, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 



1938, p. 524 (Phrae). 



Throughout the northern provinces, the familiar nok chok fa ("spar- 

 row of heaven") is a very common permanent resident of the lowlands, 

 except in forested areas. 



Like other weaverbirds, this species subsists chiefly on seeds ; after 

 the breeding season, it occurs in enormous flocks (often exceeding 

 1.000 individuals) on grass-grown marshes and in the ricefields. 



The remarkable nesting colonies of the baya are familiar to every- 

 one, especially since they are seen almost as often in compounds as 

 in the open country, Anywhere from a dozen to more than 100 pairs 

 may breed together in a grove of palms or a clump of bamboos and 



