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ON THE WEAVER BIRD (Ploceus laya : Bltth), 

 In Ceylon. 



By E. V. Legge, R.A., F.Z.S., M.R.A.S., 



(Corresponding Member of the Royal Society of Tasmania.) 



The sub-family Ploeeince, or Weaver Birds, — by reason of 

 their singular and interesting habits, and the wonderful 

 ingenuity displayed in the construction of their nests, — may 

 be said to rank foremost in the great family of FringilUdcB ; 

 and differ, in company with another interesting section, the 

 Munias (Fstreldincs)^ from others of the finch tribe, in having 

 a minute first primary. The weaver birds, which are inhabit- 

 ants of tropical Asia and of parts of Africa, are represented 

 in the former region by only one genus, Ploceus, of which 

 there are four species, — Ploceus haya (Blyth), P. striatus 

 (Blyth), P. Bengalensis (Linn.), and P. Philippinus. The 

 two first inhabit Ceylon, but P. haya is the best known of 

 the two, on account of its wide distribution throughout the 

 low country, and the singular and ingenious nests which it 

 builds ; while the latter, which is mostly a reed-builder, is 

 (according to Layard, the pioneer of Ceylon ornithologists) 

 only found in the eastern parts of the island. I have not 

 met with it even there, and have not observed it on the west 

 or south coasts ; so that it inhabits, in all probability, but a 

 very small portion of the island. 



Before giving some little account of the habits and nesting, 

 as well as of the distribution, of the Baya throughout the 

 country, it may perhaps be as well, for the information of 

 those who may not be acquainted with this interesting bird, to 

 describe the species from Ceylon specimens in my collection. 



Adult Male, in Breeding Plumage. — Total length, from 5i to 

 6 inches ; tail, 2f in. ; wing, 2 '8 in. ; tassus, "8 ; mid. toe 

 without claws, '6 ; bill to gape, •?. Iris, hazel brown ; bill, 

 blackish, lighter about the ga,pe ; legs and feet, fleshy reddish 

 grey. Forehead, crown (extending down the sides of the 

 head), and chest, light yellow, glistening on the head ; centre 

 of nape, hind neck, back and wing coverts, sepia brown, — 

 margined on the interscapular region with yellow, and on the 

 back and wing coverts with fulvous grey ; rump, rufous ; quills 

 and tail, brown, margined yellowish. Lores and above nostril, 

 cheeks, and throat, blackish brown, lightest on the chin ; 

 breast and beneath, with the under-tail coverts, whitish, — 

 washed with fulvous on the flanks, the feathers of which have 

 dark shafts. 



Adult Female differs in being sepia brown above, the feathers 



