Weaver-birds 



821 



Asiatic Weaver-bird. Of the two Asiatic genera belonging to this subfamily 

 the larger (Ploceus) is known by having the thick bill longer than it is high, 

 while the tail is short and rounded, the tarsus strong, and the claws of considerable 

 length. In the spring the males assume a yellow crown, the plumage at other 

 seasons resembling that of the female, being largely fulvous streaked with 



FIG. 226. Baya Weaver-bird, Ploceus baya. 



brownish black. The several species construct neat flask-shaped nests with 

 a tubular entrance and lay white eggs. The Baya or Common Weaver-bird 

 (P. baya) is a familiar bird throughout Ceylon and the whole of India, suspend- 

 ing its handsome purse-shaped nest, which is twelve or fourteen inches long, 

 from thorny branches or the tips of palm leaves. Of their manner of construct- 

 ing the nest, Phillips says: "The nest is generally commenced from the top, 

 the birds forming a circle like a hoop, on which they sit and swing while working; 

 the top of the hoop is gradually widened, so as at last to form a dome with two 



