THE BLACK-HEADED MANNIKIN. 241 



follows: "I have always found its nest fixed to reeds or long grass," 

 and that is all he tells us about it, with the exception of quoting Mr. 

 Frith's account, and assuring us that the latter probably refers to the 

 nest of M. undulata. 



Mr. Allan Hume says : " According to Mr. Hodgson the Chestnut- 

 bellied Munia breeds in the lower valleys and cultivated plains of 

 Nepal, in open jungle or brushwood, forming a large globular nest in 

 the midst of bamboos, thick bushes, or grass, on or close to the 

 ground, composed of dry grass or straw loosely twisted together, and 

 lined with finer rice straw. It lays from June to August four to six 

 small, oval, pure white eggs." 



Captain W. V. Legge observes :- " in North-eastern India it is, 

 according to Mr. Inglis, common during the rains, breeding there in 

 June, July, and August ; in Upper Pegu, Mr. Gates records it as 

 likewise common ; but to Tenasserim it is only a summer visitant, Mr. 

 Davidson having observed it there from March until August." 



" In habits and voice, Mr. Davidson remarks, " they resemble 

 other Munias, going about in larger or smaller flocks, and feeding on 

 the ground, chiefly on the grass seeds." Mr. Gates says it affects 

 elephant- grass and swampy places in preference to others. 



"The breeding season of this handsome Munia in Bengal, Burmah, 

 and Cachar is from June until September ; but in Tenasserim, further 

 south, Mr. Davidson speaks of their laying in April and May. In 

 Pegu, Mr. Gates says, it breeds in elephant-grass, attaching its nest 

 to two or three stems at a height of four or five feet from the 

 ground. It is " a loose mass of grass, spherical, cylindrical, or heart- 

 shaped ; the inside is lined with finer grass, the flowering ends being 

 brought forward to the entrance, which is small and difficult to find." 

 In 1874, Mr. C. Parker found it nesting in long grass near the top, 

 the nest being a very conspicuous object ; but in the following year, 

 owing to the grass having been cut down, they selected prickly date- 

 palms and small pines to build in. The eggs vary from two to five 

 in number, and are elongated glossless ovals." 



According to Mr. J. Scully: "This Munia is common in the 

 central part of the Nepal Valley, from the end of May to October, 

 frequenting rice fields and gardens. A nest taken on the i3th July, 

 in the residency grounds, was placed in a thorny hedge ; it was a 

 large globular structure with a trumpet-shaped entrance at one side ; 

 it contained five white eggs, slightly set." 



Messrs. Motley and Dillwyn say : " In Labuan, which is com- 

 paratively but little cleared and cultivated, this pretty Finch is rare ; 



S 



