FLOCEUS. 123 



of fine strips of the grass woven into a hollow egg, the long dia- 

 meter of which measured 8 inches and the short 5 inches. From 

 the centre of the hollow was the passage, measuring 18 inches in 

 length by 2 inches in diameter, and hanging downwards ; where 

 this opened into the inside of the nest there was built a little wall 

 of the same material, extending inside from side to side, so as to 

 effectually guard the eggs from being thrown out even in a high 

 wind." 



Colonel Butler has furnished me with the following note: "I 

 found any number of nests of the Striated Weaver-bird at Milana, 

 eighteen miles east of Deesa, in August and September, 1876. As 

 a rule, they are fastened to reeds or bushes growing in the water, 

 by the sides of. tanks, open wells, or marshy ground, but at the 

 same time it is not unusual to find them in high surpat grass out 

 in the open country at some distance (a half mile or more) from 

 water. They also often build in long grass overhanging ditches or 

 small streams, and I have occasionally found a colony building in 

 low thorny bushes and trees (mimosa, &c.) overhanging the water. 

 The nests were almost exactly similar to those of P. baya, except 

 that they are slightly smaller, and in some instances the tubular 

 entrance is of immense length. There is one thing very remark- 

 able about this species, and that is a peculiar habit they have of 

 cementing yellow flowers (generally mimosa) to the nest with cow- 

 dung. The lower edge of the cock bird's nest is almost invariably 

 thus decorated. The eggs are, of course, pure white and almost 

 exactly like the eggs of P. baya, but perhaps slightly smaller. 

 The cock bird is wonderfully attentive to the repairs of the nest, 

 and may be seen, even when the young are hatched, flying back- 

 wards and forwards constantly with long strips of grass in his 

 beak to execute repairs. I have not mentioned dates, as the nests 

 were so numerous, but I may add that they commence to lay about 

 the first or second week in August and continue laying all through 

 September. They generally breed in small colonies, but single nests 

 are not uncommon." 



And again he wrote to me from Sindh : "The Striated Weaver- 

 bird breeds in Sindh in June, July, August, and probably in 

 September also ; and I have occasionally seen nests of P. baya, 

 P. bengalensis, and P. manyar in the same tree ; however, as a rule, 

 I believe they breed separately. When I visited the E. Narra, 

 Sindh, at the end of July 1878, I had an excellent opportunity of 

 studying their breeding-habits, and I noticed that, although the 

 nests were extremely plentiful all along the banks of the canals, 

 there were seldom more than half a dozen in one group, and, 

 although we travelled over many miles of country and occasionally 

 saw the other two species (P. baya and P. bengalensis), still we 

 never observed them in that district breeding in company with 

 'P. manyar, although very likely they do. The nests, which are 

 usually built in tussocks of grass, by the side, or growing out of, the 

 water, or in low trees or bushes standing in or growing by the side 

 of the water, are of the usual Weaver-bird type, excepting perhaps 



