338 FRINGILLID^E. 



Length. 6-5 inches ; wing 3-25 ; tail 275 ; bill at front 0-5. The female is 

 dusky brown, the feathers edged paler ; under surface rufescent white ; wings 

 duller or pale cinnamon. 



Hab. Sind, Rajputana, Northern Guzerat, Concan, Deccan, Nepaul and 

 Tenasserim ; also Central and Southern India. 



Breeds in parts of the Central and N.-W. Provinces and the Punjab ; also at 

 Mount Aboo, in Guzerat and throughout the Himalayas. The breeding season, 

 according to Hume, extends from April to June in the Himalayas and July 

 to August in the plains. The nest is placed in holes in banks or walls, under 

 some overhanging clod or rock, or concealed in some thick tuft of grass. 

 Eggs, 34, pale greenish white, thickly speckled, freckled, and spotted with 

 red, purple or purplish brown, more dense at the larger end- 



Sub-Family. PLOCEIN^E, WEAVER BIRDS. 



Bill thick at base, with the keel projecting on the forehead and arched to 

 the tip; wings rounded ; ist quill very short; tarsi and toes strong, scutate; 

 hind toe long and strong. 



873. PloceUS phillipinus, Lin., Syst. Nat. i. 305 ; HAul. P. E. 

 135, 2; Reich.-Sing. t. 36, 283. Ploceus phillipensis, JBriss., Orn. iii. 232, 

 pi xii. f. i. Ploceus maculata, P. L. S. Mull. Suppl. 150; ex P. E. Hume, 

 Str. F. vi. 399. Ploceus baya (Blyth), apudjerd. B. hid. ii. 343, No. 694; 

 Hurray, Hdbk., Zool., fyc., Sind, p. 176. THE COMMON WEAVER BIRD. 



Adult Male in Breeding Plumage. Forhead, crown, sides of the neck and 

 breast bright yellow; lores, sides of the face, ear coverts, chin and throat dull 

 brown, paler on the chin ; back brown, the feathers with yellow edgings ; rump 

 paler brown, edged lighter ; upper tail coverts a dirty buff colour or rufous 

 white ; wing coverts dull brown, the greater series and the primary coverts 

 narrowly edged with greyish white ; primaries, secondaries and tertiaries dull 

 brown, the primaries with a narrow edging of pale yellow on their outer webs f 

 also on the secondaries; tertiaries broadly edged yellowish white; tail dull 

 brown, the feathers faintly and narrowly edged with yellowish green ; abdomen, 

 vent and under tail coverts dull white, also the thigh coverts ; the middle of the 

 abdomen and thigh coverts tinged yellowish ; edge of the wing fulvous white. 

 Bill black ; irides brown ; legs yellowish brown. 



Length. 5-5 inches ; extent 8-5 ; wing 275 ; tail 175 ; bill at front 0-6. 

 The female is like the male, but wants the yellow crown and breast, and the 

 chin and throat are whitish or rufous white. 



Ilab. Throughout India to Ceylon, Assam, Burmah and Nepaul. Common 

 everywhere in Sind with the two next species, as well as in the Punjab, N.-W. 

 Provinces and Bengal, also Central and Southern India, the Concan and 

 Deccan, Kutch, Kattiawar, Jodhpore and N. Gu/erat. Breeds freely in 

 company with niiinyar and bengahnsis. Nest non-pensile, being attached lo the 



