ESTRELDINiE. 355 



somewhat local in its distribution, but, where met with, is there 

 tolerably abundant. I have seen it on the edges of the Neil- 

 gherries, and in various parts of tlie Carnatic and Central India, 

 as well as in Rental, but it does not occur in the ]\Ialabar Coast. 

 It is occasionally found in grassy or bushy ground, and Buchanan 

 Hamilton states it to live in thickets of Hugla grass ( Typha 

 elephantina)^ near villa<:es where small grains are sown ; but more 

 frequently it occurs near cultivated ground, affecting mangoe groves, 

 or patches of tree jungle. It builds in thorny bushes, chiefly 

 about fields, and makes a large nest of very fine grass, or not 

 unfrequently of the flowering tufts of some Saccharum, which I 

 have often seen it conveying to its nest ; and I have always found 

 the nest solitJiry, contrary to Mr. Layard's observations, who states 

 that he has seen thirty or forty nests m one tree, and that in one 

 instance he found one structure containing several nests. The 

 eggs, of course, are pure fleshy white, usually four to six in number. 

 At Thayet-myo I found it building in a hole in the thatch of my 

 bungalow. Blyth states that this bird, which is very commonly 

 caged, is known in Bengal as the Nutmeg-bird from the peculiar 

 mottling of its breast. 



The nearly allied M. punctularia (nisoria of Temminck), occurs 

 in the Malayan provinces. 



700. Munia pectoralis, Jerdon. 



SpermesteSj Jerdon, Suppl. Cat. 173 bis. 



The IIufods-bellii':d INIunia. 



Descr. — Head, neck, and back, brown, the shafts of the feathers 

 pale ; upper tail-coverts dark brown, the feathers tipped with 

 glistening yellow ; Avings and tail dark brown ; face, forehead, 

 throat, and breast, dark brovn, strongly contrasting with the sides 

 of the neck ; lower parts from the breast, reddish-fawn colour ; 

 under tail-coverts dark brown with pale shafts. 



Bill pluiabeous; legs plumbeous lirown; irides dark brown ; 

 Length 4^ inches ; wing 'Jf^ ; tail l^-^ ; tarsus y^^. 'J'he central 

 tail feathers are barely longer than the next pair. 



