C42 PLOCEUS PHILIPPINUS. 



immature male of the same month, probably bred late in the preceding autumn and not about to breed, has the 

 upper-surface feathers margined with a less tawny hue than the above, and the centre of the fore neck and sides 

 of chest with conspicuous, though very fine, dark shaft-stripes, and has no trace of a yellow tinge on the lower 

 surface. This specimen has some resemblance to the Striated Weaver-bird ; but I have compared it with skins of 

 the latter, and the stria? are not of the same character at all, but resemble those on the flanks of adult individuals 

 of the present species. 



06s. A Malabar skin of this bird in breeding-plumage has the yellow of the head and chest of a deeper hue than 

 almost anv I have seen from Ceylon ; but another from " Madras " is identical with a male in my own collection. 



The specific name philippinus, which I here employ and which appears to be the correct one, is not aptly applied to 

 our Indian species, and is, in fact, an inappropriate name altogether, as the bird is not found in the Philippine 

 archipelago. The Indian-peninsular form has of late years been usually styled P. baya ; but Mr. Hume now 

 considers that Blyth applied this name to a large race with a differently coloured chest, which occurs in Nepal, 

 Sikhim, Eastern Bengal, Burmah, and the Malay peninsula. The late Marquis of Tweeddale and Mr. Hume are 

 of opinion that Linnoeus's name applies to the common Indian Weaver-bird ; and after perusing the remarks of the 

 former, written in his admirable paper on the birds of the Philippine archipelago, I think that there is little 

 doubt that the species so named by Linua?us was no other than the present. The Marquis first of all points out that 

 there is no Weaver-bird in the Philippines, and then remarks that, according to Bufi'on, DAubenton's figure was 

 taken from a male example of Brisson's Coccothraustes philipipinensis, on which Linnanis founded LoxiapMlippina; 

 Brisson's description completely agrees with P. baya, Blyth, and cannot, as some think, apply to P. hypoxanthus 

 of Indian authors. Furthermore, Brisson describes and figures the nest of his Weaver-bird, which is unmis- 

 takably that of P. baya. 



Mr. Hume writes that the larger form, his presumed P. baya of Blyth, differs from the true philippinus in the much 

 more rufescent character of its lower plumage ; and he is also of opinion that the males do not assume the yellow- 

 breast in the breeding-season. He recognizes a third form in his P. megarhynchus (Ibis, 1S69, p. 350), which 

 has an immense bill for its size, measuring OS-t to gape, and in the wing 2*95 inches, and differs from P. philippinus 

 " in the darker and more rufescent tone of the entire plumage, and in the almost entire absence of striations on 

 the crown, the much broader and sparser striations of the back, with entire absence of any rufous or rufescent 

 supercilium, and in the cheeks and ear-coverts being unicolorous with the rest of the sides of the head and nape." 



Distribution. — The Baya is common throughout all the low country, but I have always found it more 

 numerous in the maritime provinces than in the interior. It is very local, keeping in large flocks to certain 

 spots for some time, breeding in them, and then disappearing for months at a time, during which it occupies 

 other localities suited to its habits ; and this wandering disposition has caused some to think that it is 

 migratory. It is, I think, more frequently met with in the south and west than in the north of the island, 

 although I seldom failed to find flocks of it at all seasons frequenting the open country surrounding the salt 

 lagoons and estuaries in the Trincomalie district ; and I have likewise met with it in similar spots in the 

 neighbourhood of Hambantota and Batticaloa, so that it cannot be said to be very much more partial to the 

 west than the east side of the island. In the Anaradjapura district Mr. Parker has met with it not unfrequently, 

 and at Uswewa he says it is not uncommon. I have seen it in the Kuruncgala district, and at Chilaw I found 

 it in large flocks. About Colombo I have met with it as near to the town as Cotta, where it breeds, as it 

 likewise does occasionally at Borelesgamuwa. I am not aware that it has been found in the hills. 



This Weaver-bird is found throughout peninsular and continental India, and would appear, from 

 Mr. Hume's first writings on the subject, to extend to Burmah and Tenasserim, although from later 

 disquisitions in ' Stray Feathers ' it would appear that he identifies the bird inhabiting those regions with 

 what he considers Blyth 's true P. baya from Nepal, Sikhim, and Eastern Bengal. In the first list of 

 Tenasserim birds ( f Stray Feathers/ 1874) we find that the Ploceus baya of the province is " identical with 

 continental Indian specimens," by which I understand the smaller race with the pure yellow breast. Again, 

 in the "Birds of Pegu," t.c. 1875, it is written : — "Specimens from Thayetmyo agree well with others from 

 all parts of India." But in the " Birds of Tenasserim " (Str. Feath. 1878) we find all the specimens of this 

 type entered as true baya, Blyth, apud Hume, which is stated to inhabit Nepal and Sikhim, Eastern Bengal 

 and Burmah, and not continental India. This matter apparently requires elucidation. At any rate our 

 Ceylonese bird is found in suitable places in Southern India, and is common in the Deccan, from which the 

 Rev. Dr. Fairbank records it ; in the north-west it is common at the Sambhur Lake and in the plains 



