140 



them quite fresh, at least on blowing them they appeared to be so. 

 No doubt the eggs were of some two or three pairs. But I believe 

 six is about the regular number of one pair. In the assistant's 

 bungalow at Bubeena, a Weaver-bird's nest was hung up at one 

 end of the verandah. Some short time after a pair of Munias took 

 possession of it, and, though the people were constantly passing 

 within a foot or two under it, the female laid six eggs. Unfor- 

 tunately, one night the peon on watch with his lathi accidentally 

 struck the nest and capsized it, eggs and all." 



Erom Poona, Mr. E. Aitken writes : " I have seen countless 

 nests of this bird, but it is difficult to give any accurate account of 

 its nidification, owing to the confused way in which it manages its 

 domestic affairs. Sometimes two pairs seem to unite in partnership, 

 or, again, solitary females will go on laying any number of barren 

 eggs, as fast as the lizards can eat them up ! So my information 

 must be a little vague. 



" In Poona they breed in the cold season ; they commonly build 

 all over the rocky plains, but many also in gardens in the can- 

 tonment. The nest is usually about 6 feet from the ground, and 

 varies from a large hollow ball of fine grass, with a hole at one 

 side, to a flat nest with some of the grass bent over in an arch. 

 The material is almost always plain grass, and there is no lining. 

 In one case, which I took to be a real bond-Jtde attempt to bring 

 up a single family, I counted with my finger six eggs ; but I cannot 

 remember any other trustworthy case in which there were so many 

 eggs belonging to one pair. 



" I believe they frequently use their own and each other's old 

 nests. Jerdon does not mention that they employ their old nests 

 to sleep in. I have driven a whole flock out of one after dusk." 



Colonel Butler makes the following remark : " I have seen 

 numerous instances in the neighbourhood of Belgaum of nests 

 built in the stick nests of Neophron ginyinianus and Aquila 

 vindhiana, similar to the instance mentioned in the ' Hough Draft 

 of Nests and Eggs,' p. 453. In fact this appears to be one of the 

 favourite sites selected. 



" This Munia breeds in the neighbourhood of Deesa most plenti- 

 fully I fancy during the rains ; but I have taken nests in almost 

 every month in the year. I have seen as many as fifteen eggs in 

 one nest, and numbers varying from nine to twelve are common. 

 On the 28th September, 1876, I found a nest containing fourteen 

 eggs, of which seven were much incubated, two slightly so, and five 

 quite fresh. Only one pair of birds appeared to be in possession 

 of the nest." 



Mr. G. Vidal, writing of this Munia in the S. Konkan, says : 

 "Scarce. I found a nest on the 28th January, 1879, in hill-side 

 jungle in a her (Zizyphus jujuba) tree. The nest, a round globe, 

 was made externally of very dirty coarse grass, with a very small 

 opening at the top on one side. The nest inside was also shabby, 

 but the lining was of finer grass, and for ornament there were a 

 few Green Paroquet's feathers. Two old birds were sitting on 



