PLOCEELLA. 125 



Dr. Jerdon only tells us that it is " frequeut in swampy groiiud 

 near the mouth of the Rangoon River, where 1 also found its 

 nest, solitary, in a thick thorny bush very similar to that of 

 P. henr/alensis." 



A\'riling from the Pegu Plains in the neighbourhood of Wau, Mr. 

 Gates remarks : — " This species breeds ^ery abundantly in this 

 neighbourhood ; on the 2.5th of July I took a great number of the 

 nests and found that most of them contained two eggs, but some 

 few of them only one. The greater number of the eggs were much 

 incubated. 



" The nest is placed about 5 feet from the ground, invariably 

 supported from below, and not hanging as is the case with the 

 nests of other Weaver-birds. It is securely fastened to several 

 stems and leaves of a large species of grass, or to the branches of 

 some strong weed. In the compound of the bungalow at Kyeik- 

 padien I found no fewer than four nests in a patch of weeds near 

 the entrance. 



" The nest is cylindrical, about 6 inches high and 4 inches in 

 diameter externally, composed entirely of grasses, woven on the 

 outside in a very clumsy manner, the whole exterior presenting a 

 series of loops and sharp angles. The interior is formed of fine 

 grass, nicely curved to the shape of the nest and perfectly smooth. 

 The flowering ends of these fine grasses are in some nests brought 

 forward so as to form a ring, through which the bird enters the 

 nest. The entrance is at various heights, sometimes in the middle 

 and sometimes quite at the top of the nest. It is about an inch in 

 diameter. 



" The colour of the eggs is very variable. The ground of some 

 is white, the whole egg sprinkled with minute dots of pale brown. 

 Of some the ground-colour is greenish w^hite, profusely speckled 

 with greenish brown, the specks having a tendency to form a ring 

 round the larger end. Others are pale purplish grey, covered with 

 a profusion of darker specks and spots of the same colour spread 

 evenly over the egg and coalescing in places. Others are of a 

 somewhat olivaceous tint, some without a single mark, while others 

 have a few very indistinct lines and clouded spots at the thick end. 

 In fact, from the examination of a large series, it appears that 

 hardly any two eggs are alike. In one nest the two eggs were as 

 different from each other as two eggs could well be ; but as a rule 

 the eggs out of the same nest bear a close resemblance to each 

 other." 



The nests and eggs, of which Mr. Oates has sent me a large 

 series, are very correctly described by him ; certaiidy the eggs are 

 utterly unlike those of any of our other Indian Weaver-birds or 

 Munias, and approximate to those of the House-Sparrow. Not 

 only are they not pure plain dead white, but the shells are very 

 smooth and fine and have a decided though not brilhant gloss. 

 The ground-colour is white, greenish or greyish ^^ hite, a delicate 

 dove-grey, or ])ale purplish stone- colour ; and while one or two 

 of the latter colour are quite free from markings, the great majority 



