THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 563 



normally they select trees that overhang water, whether this be a 

 river, pond, or ditch. The body of the nest, huge in relation to the 

 size of the builder, is a pyrif orm structure of tightly woven vegetable 

 fiber, from one side of which hangs down a hollow tube of the same 

 material ; access to the chamber can be effected only by flying up this 

 tunnel, which varies in length from a few inches to several feet. In 

 addition to the protection afforded eggs and young by water beneath, 

 ingenious entrance, and the astonishing strength of the woven walls, 

 a further defense against enemies is acquired, perhaps adventitiously, 

 from the fact that, more often than not, the colony is located in a 

 tree which is also the home of the vicious red tailor ant, Oecophylla 

 sm-aragdina (whose domestic arrangements, incidentally, are quite 

 as curious as those of the bird). The polygamous males are driven 

 to construct nests throughout the season (which, with us, runs from 

 the beginning of April to the end of August) , and among the occupied 

 retorts hang others in all stages of development. For a full account 

 of the extraordinary breeding behavior of the related form, Ploceus 

 p. philippinus, see Ali (Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. 34, 1931, 

 pp. 947-964). 



Early prenuptial molt appears in a specimen of March 30 and in 

 two (out of six) collected April 11; a series of seven taken between 

 July 6 and August 4 wear full nuptial dress. Examples from Chiang 

 Mai, April 22 and 23, are in postnatal molt; the bird of later date is 

 probably a week or more older than the other. 



A breeding male had the irides dark brown ; the bill black ; the rictus 

 yellow; the feet, toes, and claws dusky flesh. A female and a non- 

 breeding male differed in having the maxilla pinkish brown and the 

 mandible brownish pink. The juvenile of April 22 (mentioned above) 

 had the entire bill yellowish horn. 



The nuptial male has the forehead, crown, and nape golden-yellow ; 

 the feathers of the mantle and the upper wing coverts blackish brown, 

 edged with rufous-buff to give a strongly streaked appearance; the 

 rump and upper tail coverts rufous-buff, the feathers with obsolescent 

 darker centers; the remiges and rectrices blackish brown, narrowly 

 edged with golden-olive; the lores, cheeks, and ear coverts blackish 

 brown, this color invading and sometimes almost covering the chin 

 and throat; the remaining underparts deep rufous-buff, albescent on 

 the abdomen and under tail coverts (the sides of the breast sometimes 

 sparingly streaked with blackish brown). The female at any season 

 and the nonbreeding male have the forehead, crown, and nape streaked 

 with blackish brown and rufous-buff like the mantle; an indistinct 

 rufous-buff supercilium; the ear coverts buffy brown; the chin and 

 throat like the breast but paler. 



