664 MUNI A MALABAEICA. 



it does not ascend the hills ; and I have not observed that it has been found recently in any of the alpine 

 regions treated of in ' Stray Feathers.' In the Deccan, Messrs. Davidson and Wender record it as common; and 

 Dr. Fairbank says it is especially abundant in the Ahmednugur district. It is found throughout the open 

 country in the Carnatic, and I have no doubt it is an inhabitant of the island of Ramisserum. Jerdon remarks 

 that it is rare in Malabar and other wooded districts, and generally so in forest districts. Mr. Ball notes it 

 from the Godaveri valley, Nowagark, and Karial, Orissa north of Mahanacli, Sambalpur, Bilaspur, Sirguja, 

 Singhbhum, Lohardugga, Hazaribagh, Manbhum, and Bardwan, which localities compose the immense tract, 

 from the Godaveri river to the Ganges, which this gentleman has worked; but in a former paper he remarks that 

 it is not common anywhere in the division of Chota Nagpur. In Furreedpore Mr. Cripps informs us that it 

 is a permanent resident, and common, which, indeed, it appears to be throughout Bengal. Mr. Hume records 

 it from Etawah, Captain Marshall from Allahabad, and Mr. Brooks from the Delhi, Jhansi, and Saugor districts. 

 It must likewise extend to the sub-Himalayan region, as Capt. Pinwell's specimens were procured, as I under- 

 stand, beneath the N.W. Himalayas. Travelling westward we find that it is common in Siudh, Cutch, 



to me the most tenable, viz., that it had escaped from confinement ; and I accordingly do not give it a place in the 

 Ceylonese avifauna as an ordinary straggler to the island. The spot where I met with it was in the Guinea-grass field 

 attached to my quarters on the Galle face ; there were about a dozen birds in the flock, and they came daily to the field 

 for about a fortnight ; they appeared again the following month (February), and after staying a short time again disap- 

 peared. In June following this a male appeared alone ; and after I had procured it I saw no more until September, when 

 a pair visited the field again for a day or two. In 1872 I observed one or two close to the Galle Fort, feeding on the 

 esplanade just outside the ramparts. 



No other instances of its occurrence are known to me ; but it is possible that it may have bred in the island and thus 

 become naturalized, provided that it did not take its own place in our lists. Jerdon thus sketches out its distribution : — 

 " The Amaduvad is found throughout all India, more rare in the south, abundant in the north. In the south of India I 

 have seen it tolerably frequent on the lower hills of the Nilghiris in Mysore, here and there throughout the Carnatic, but 

 rare in the Deccan and the lower tableland generally. It is more common in Central India, and abundant in Oudh 

 and Lower Bengal, extending into the lower ranges of the Himalayas as well as to Assam and Burmah." 



It ascends the Nilghiris to an elevation of 6000 feet to breed ; near Mahabaleshvvar it is rare according to Dr. Fair- 

 bank; further north it occurs, as an instance of local distribution, at Mount Aboo, but is not found, writes Mr. Hume, in 

 any part of Cutch, Kattiawar, or Jodhpoor, although it is common in Sindh during the inundation. "In the bare portions of 

 the N.W. Provinces and Rajpootana," he says, "I have never known it as more than a passing visitor; but wherever the 

 country is well watered and either well wooded or abounding in high grass, — in Meerut aud the districts of the Doab 

 northwards, in many places in Oudh and Bokilkund, Saugor, Chanda, Raipoor, in the Central Provinces, in the more 

 fertile portions of Sindh, in all our Dhoons and Terais — I know of it nesting." Mr. Cripps once observed it in Furreed- 

 pore ; and Mr. Ball found it at Manbhum, Sirguja, and Lohardugga. It is a visitor to N.E. Cachar, arriving in October 

 and departing in March (Inglis). 



Hahits. — I noticed that the little flock of Amaduvads which frequented my field were constantly on the move, the 

 restless little birds flying up and settling down continually ; they clung actively to the stalks, and reached out their heads, 

 plucking out the seeds of the grass with great avidity. In June the male bird uttered a low sweet little song when 

 perched on the top of a grass-stalk, which scarcely bent its head beneath the tiuy weight. They are caught iu great 

 numbers in Bengal, and sent abroad to Europe and various parts in the East. Blyth says that the popular name of 

 Amaduvad "took its origin from the city of Ahmedabad, whence it used to be imported into Europe iu numbers'* 

 [Jerdon). In India it is said to affect bushy grouud, gardens, and sugar-cane fields, as well as grass; and the male. 

 according to Jerdon, fights with much spirit, being kept for that purpose by the natives. 



Xiilif cation. — This little bird has two broods in the year, and breeds in the plains from November till February and 

 from June till August ; but in the Nilghiris, writes Mr. Hume, the breeding-season lasts from May till December. The 

 nest is described as an oblate spheroid mass, loosely but not untidily built of fine grass, and lined with fine seed-down ; 

 the entrance circular and at one side. Miss Coekburn observes that they are fond of placing their nests at the roots of 

 bushes. The eggs are pointed ovals in shape, pure white, and of course very small, averaging in size only " 0-55 to 0-43 

 inch." 



