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margined with yellowish grey ; a yellowish grey supercillium 

 and a light patch below the eye ; rump, wings, and tail as in 

 the male, with the edgings more fulvous ; beneath whitish, 

 washed with obscure yellow on parts of the throat and chest. 



Males in Winter Plumage resemble females, and Jerdau 

 (Birds of India) gives younger males in breeding plumage as 

 having the breast pale rusty instead of yellow, and wanting 

 the yellow margins on the interscapulars. 



Young Birds in nestling plumage, which I have reared up 

 from the nest, are dark brown above, the feathers edged 

 fulvous, a light brownish buff ; supercilliary stripe buff ; chin 

 and lower parts whitish ; breast fulvous ; bill brownish 

 fleshy ; legs, feet reddish fleshy. The baya, as it is called in 

 India, is distributed throughout the whole peninsula, from the 

 Himalayas to Ceylon, extending eastwards into Burmah and 

 Malayana. In Ceylon it inhabits the whole low country. 

 Layard thought it to be migratory, and I was of the same 

 opinion for some time, but from further investigation, and a 

 knowledge of its different times of breeding in the north and 

 south of the island, combined with the generally accepted idea 

 that it nests but once a year, I believe that it does not 

 migrate from one district to the other, as do so many of our 

 small insessorial birds, but that ifc is stationary on both sides ; 

 merely wandering about from part to part of the same locality 

 until the breeding season, which is at crop time, when it 

 suddenly appears in large numbers and commences to build. 

 In support of my theory that it does not migrate, I may state 

 that it nests in the south-west and south from June until 

 August, when " internal migratory "* species have been driven 

 over to the East Coast by the south-west monsoon ; and in 

 the north from October until December, when the same birds 

 have moved back to the west, under the influence of the north- 

 east wind. It is found inhabiting the north and south of the 

 island, therefore, at the time of the year when, according to 

 the movements of migratory species, its habitat would be 

 exactly reversed. According to the late Dr. Jerdan, it is 

 stationary in most parts of India, and breeds there (as it does 

 in Ceylon) during the rains, according to the locality, from 

 April to September. 



In this island the baya does not extend into the hills, that 



* One " intei-nal migi-ation " of many of our birds takes place from west 

 to east and vice versa, according as the south-west or north-east monsoons 

 prevail. To what extent this exists, and what species are subjected to it are 

 still among the most difficult questions connected with the study of Ceylon 

 ornithology. I have digressed somewhat from the matter of this paper in 

 order to touch upon the subject as connected with Ploceus haya, because there 

 are so many ditferent opinions concerning its sudden appearance in various 

 parts of the country. 



