MISCELLAyEOV>S NOTEb'. 821 



No. VI.— NIDIFICATION (3F THE GOLDEN WEAVER-BIRD 

 {FLOCIELLA JAVANENSIS). 



When on t()ur iu the Sittang delta (June 30th to July 4th) 1 fomul 

 Ploce'ellajarammsis breeding in considerable numbers. As some of the notes 

 I made differ considerably from those in Humes ' Nests and eggs of Indian 

 birds ', I am sending them to yon in case you care to use them. They were 

 mostly made in and round the village of Yitkangale, 16 m. S. E. of Pegu. 

 The nests were placed from 3 to 12 feet from the ground, generally about 8 

 or 10 feet. They were mostly built in a thorny bush, locally called 

 ' Kathit,' at the extremities of the branches, supported by the twigs being- 

 worked into their structure : the support came indiscriminately from above, 

 below, or all round the nest. I found a few nests (mostly unfinished) in 

 elephant grass, but 80 per cent, were in small trees or bushes. 



In all cases, the bird had apparently exercised care in the selection of 

 the site. All colonies found in trees (with the exception of 5) were in 

 Kathit or Zee, both of them thorny, and most unpleasant to deal with. Of 

 the o exceptions, 4 were built in thornless trees, which coiitained hornet's 

 nests, and the fifth was in a tree infested by a very large ant with a fear- 

 some bite. My man had a badly swollen hand as the result of getting eggs 

 from the last c<ilony. 



I found one or two clutches of three eggs, say o per cent., but the great 

 majority were of two only. The nest reminds one more of that of a 

 Munia than a Ploceus. 



In grass, I only found 3 or 4 nests together, but in trees the colonies 

 numbered up to 12 or 15 nests, usually 8 or 10. I found 3 or 4 nests 

 containing young, but the greater number contained quite fresh eggs ; in 

 some, laying had not been commenced. 



Pegu, Bukma, 6f/« July 1916. J. M. D. MACKENZIE. 



Xo. VII.— THE EASTERN BAYA {FLOCEUS MEGAIiYNCHUS) 



NESTING IN THE SAME TREE AS THE JUNGLE BEE 



{APIS INlJiCVS). 



I send you a photo taken by myself of a hive of the Jungle bee Ajns 

 indicus with the nest of the Eastern baya Ploceus mej/avynchus along side of 

 it. This is the third instance I have come across. Can you let me know 

 whether it has been observed before ? 



Hasimaea p. O., Dltaes, ■2-2nd June 1916. H. V. O'DONEL. 



[The photograph is unfortunately not capable of beini^- reproduced. — Editoes.] 



No. VIII.— THE PIED CRESTED CUCKOO {COCCYSTES 

 JACOBINUS.) 



The Pied Crested Cuckoo, as is well known, usually deposits its egg 

 which is hedge-sparrow blue, iu the nest of a Babbler. 



The Common Babbler Argya caudata and the Jungle Babbler Crateropus 

 canorus, both of which lay blue eggs, are the Babblers usually selected as 

 foster-parents in this neighbourhood. 



On the loth July I was surprised to find an undoubted egg of this 

 cuckoo in a nest of the Common Bulbul Molpastes bcnyalensis. The nest 

 contained three eggs of the Bulbul in addition to the Cuckoo's egg. All 

 were hard set. 



