136 PLOCEIUjE. 



732. Uroloncha pectoralis (Jerd.). The Rufous-bellied Munia. 



Munia pectoralis (Jerd.}, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 355 ; Hume, Rough Draft 

 N. $ E. no. 700. 



I know nothing of the nidification of this species, but Miss 

 Cockburn says they are summer visitants to the slopes of the 

 Nilghiris about Kotagherry. She adds: ''These little birds 

 build in July, and, like all of this species, construct a large nest. 

 Many of them build in the eaves of a coffee-storehouse, which was 

 thatched, attaching their nests to the thatch so far in as almost to 

 be hid. They lay six or eight pure white eggs." 



She has sent me a specimen of the bird ; so that it is certain 

 that she has not wrongly identified the species. 



Miss Cockburn afterwards kindly sent me the following addi- 

 tional note, with a nest : 



" The nest of this bird was found at a coffee estate, about 

 8000 feet of elevation. 



" The situation chosen was a large tree in front of the coffee 

 godown, on a hill-side. The nest was built on one of the large 

 outer branches, slightly concealed among the leaves, at the height 

 of about twenty feet. The shape was perfectly round, about 7 or 

 8 inches in diameter. It had been commenced with long dried 

 roots, to which was added the long leaves of a reed which grows 

 near water. These leaves are from 3 to 4 inches long and 1 inch 

 broad. A large quantity of fine, soft, downy grass-seed ears were 

 accumulated, forming a completely round nest, with a small hole 

 at one side ; no lining. The number of eggs, 8 or 10. Only one 

 brood is reared here, during the two or three months these birds 

 remain here." 



Mr. F. W. Bourclillon writes of this bird in the Travancore 

 Hills : " Another common species, residing on the hills all the 

 year round. It is gregarious in habit, and feeds on grass and 

 other small seeds. The nest is a large loose construction of fine 

 creeping-grass, with perhaps a few feathers interwoven, deposited 

 in a hollow stump, and contains six to eight white eggs laid about 

 June or July." 



The eggs that Miss Cockburn has kindly sent (which are smaller 

 than those of either of the other species) are regular, moderately 

 broad ovals, entirely glossless and snow-white, and vary in length 

 from 0-61 to 0-63, "and in breadth from 0'42 to 0-46; but they 

 average 0-62 by 0-44. 



734. Uroloncha malabarica (Linn.). The White-throated 

 Munia. 



Munia malabarica (Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 357 ; Hume, Rouc/h 

 DraftN.fyZ.no. 703. 



The White-throated Munia, like the Spotted one, breeds pretty 

 well all over India, but the present species affects the more arid 



