78 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



looks a very showy little bird altogether. His bill 

 which had been brown, now becomes black fading again 

 when the winter plumage is assumed. 



In Bengal and Burma, extending east to Java, is found 

 another Weaver-bird which, except for being usually 

 larger, is almost indistinguishable from the true Baya, 

 that is, the hens and winter-plumaged cocks ; the cock 

 of this Eastern Baya (Ploceus atrigula) never dons such 

 a bright wedding-garment as the typical Indian bird and 

 is thus easily distinguishable at the breeding season. 

 The only yellow he shows is on the crown ; his throat is a 

 smoky grey ; and the rest of his plumage remains very 

 sparrowy, except that some individuals, no doubt with 

 a strain of the more aristocratic Baya blood, show a few 

 yellow feathers on the breast. 



As to their habits, the two birds may be treated together. 

 They are mainly seed-eaters, but probably feed their 

 young on insects. They are always gregarious, even 

 breeding in company, and their nests are the most perfect 

 examples of bird architecture. They are made of grass 

 or palm-fibre, very strongly woven together, and are in 

 shape like a bulb suspended above by a short cord, and 

 ending below in a long tube. The nest is of course begun 

 from above with the cord, and across the lower part of 

 the bulb, inside, runs a partition, which divides the spout 

 from the chamber or pocket in which lie the eggs and 

 young. The excellence of the workmanship is most 

 remarkable, but the end of the spout is always left frayed 

 out and untidy, so as to give less foothold to an enemy. 

 The bird itself enters the nest on the wing, shooting up 



