UROLONCHA. 135 



Mr. Yidal, writing of the S. Konkan, says : " Common every- 

 where in gardens and jungles. I have found numbers of old nests 

 used as roosting-places, but have never succeeded in getting any 

 eggs." 



In Ceylon, according to Colonel Legge, these Munias appear to 

 be constantly nesting. 



The eggs which 1 have from Tercand in Southern India, 

 Raipoor, and other places are precisely similar in appearance 

 to many eggs of Uroloncha punctulata, U. malabarica, &c. They 

 are regular, somewhat elongated, little ovals, very pure white and 

 perfectly devoid of gloss. 



They vary in length from 0-55 to 0'65, and in breadth from 0-42 

 to O47 ; but the average of ten eggs is 0-61 by 0*44. 



730. Uroloncha fumigata (Walden). The Andaman White-backed 



Munici. 



Amadina fumigata, Wald., Hume, Cat. no. 701 ter. 



Of this Andaman race, Mr. Davison says : " They must breed 

 very early, or rather, perhaps I should say, late ; for when I 

 arrived at the Andamans in December the young had left the 

 nests. Several old nests that I found were large globular struc- 

 tures made of grass, with the entrance placed at one side and 

 drawn out into a short neck in fact, very similar to those of 

 S. amandava."" 



731. Uroloncha leucogastra (Bl.). The White-bellied 

 Amadina leucogastra {Blyth\ Hume, Cat. no. 701 bis. 



Mr. Davison writes from Tenasserim : " On the 25th of 

 April last I took a nest of this species in dense forest between 

 Malawoon and Bankasoon, and about six miles from the nearest 

 open ground. 



" The nest was a globular structure about 7 inches long by 

 about 6 wide at the broadest part, and was composed of dry grass 

 and bamboo-leaves, and lined with finer grass-steins and a few 

 fibres, and placed in the fork of a sapling about seven feet from 

 the ground. Ic contained a single white egg, similar to that of 

 U. acuticauda" 



Some eggs subsequently obtained are somewhat elongated ovals, 

 at times very markedly so. Generally they are rather regular 

 ovals, but some of the broader types are slightly compressed 

 towards the small end. The shell is very fine, and apparently 

 fragile, but pretty strong all the same. It is entirely devoid 

 of gloss ; the colour is snow-white. 



Five eggs measured from O'O to 0-69 in length, and from 0-42 to 

 0-46 in breadth. 



