PLOCEINZ. 259 
ate, even, forked in most; tarsus moderate or short ; feet suited 
both for perching and terrestrial habits ; of small size. 
SUB-FAMILY, Ploceine. 
Bill strong, conic, slightly lengthened; the culmen arched, 
and the ridge continued back upon the forehead ; wings some- 
what rounded, first primary very minute ; tail short in most; legs 
and toes very strong and robust, the latter lengthened, specially 
the hind-toe, and the claws well developed. 
Genus, Ploceus, Cuv. 
Bill thick at the base, laterally compressed, pointed at the tip ; 
culmen smooth, broad, rounded, and produced backwards on the 
forehead to a point; commissure nearly straight; nostrils basal, 
partly concealed; wings moderate or somewhat short, with the 
first quill small, about one-third of the next four or five, second a 
little shorter than the third, which is usually longest; tail short, 
even, or very slightly rounded; feet large; hind-toe and claw 
strong, all the claws lengthened. 
Ploceus philippinus, Zin. 
694.—P. baya, Blyth.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. IT, p. 343 ; 
Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. III, p. 495 ; Deccan, Stray 
Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 415 ; Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, 
p. 180 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India; Ibis, 1885, p. 128. 
THE Common WEAVER-BIRD. 
Length, 6; expanse, 95; wing, 2°8; tail, 1:9; tarsus, 0°8; bill 
at front, 0°6. 
Bill from pale horny-brown to black; irides dusky-brown ; legs 
brownish-fleshy. 
Old males, in breeding plumage, have the crown of the head 
bright yellow, the rest of the upper plumage with the wings 
and tail dull brown, edged with pale fulvous-brown, some of the 
feathers in the middle of the back edged yellow; rump and 
upper tail-coverts pale rufous-brown; primaries with a narrow 
edging of pale-yellow ; lores, ear-coverts, chin and throat, blackish- 
brown ; breast bright yeliow; belly and lower tail-coverts dull 
white; the flanks, under wing-coverts, and thigh-coverts, pale 
rusty or buff. 
Young males, in the breeding plumage, have the breast pale 
rusty instead of yellow, and the yellow edging of the inter-scapu- 
lars is wanting. - 
The females and males in winter dress totally want the yellow 
head, the crown being brown with dark streaks, have pale-rufous 
supercilia, and the chin and throat are whitish. 
The Common Weaver-Bird is generally distributed through- 
out our limits, but is more abundant in well-wooded districts. It 
is a permanent resident, breeding towards the end of the rains. 
