16 A BIRD CALENDAR 



of the bird, being a loosely-woven cup, which is 

 egg-shaped and has a hole at or near the narrow 

 end. It is composed of fine grass stems and is 

 often lined with soft material. It is usually 

 placed in the middle of a bush, sometimes in 

 a tussock of grass. From six to fourteen eggs 

 are laid. These are white in colour. This 

 species appears to breed twice in the year 

 from October to February and again from 

 June to August. 



The white-throated munia (Uroloncha mala- 

 barica) is a dull brown bird, with a white patch 

 above the tail. Its throat is yellowish white. 

 The old name for the bird the plain brown 

 munia seems more appropriate than that 

 with which the species has since been saddled 

 by Blanford. The nest of this little bird is 

 more loosely put together and more globular 

 than that of the amadavat. It is usually placed 

 low down in a thorny bush. The number of 

 eggs laid varies from six to fifteen. These, 

 like those of the red munia, are white. June 

 seems to be the only month in the year in 

 which the eggs of this species have not been 

 found. In the United Provinces more nests 

 containing eggs are discovered in January than 

 in any other month. 



