THE BAYA. 
359 
fulvous,, the rump and upper tail-coverts being almost uniform fulvous ; 
sides of the head, chin and throat blackish brown ; breast and all the lower 
plumage rusty, brightest on the breast and palest on the abdomen. The 
shade of brown on the throat and sides o£ the head varies much. 
Bill black ; inside of mouth flesh-colour ; eyelid grey ; iris dark brown ; 
legs flesh- colour ; claws pinkish horn-colour. 
Female in summer and both sexes in ivinter. The forehead and top of the 
head, instead of being yellow, are brown with fulvous edgings like the 
upper plumage ; there is a rufous supercilium ; the sides of the head^ the 
chin and throat are pale fulvous ; the remainder of the lower plumage is 
similar to that of the male in summer plumage. 
Bill yellowish horn-colour, the lower mandible paler than the upper; 
other parts much as above. 
Length 5*7 inches, tail 1*9, wing 2'8, tarsus '9, bill from gape '7, The 
female is rather smaller. 
The change to summer plumage is accomplished in April, and that to 
winter plumage in October. 
It was thought for many years that the Weaver-birds of Continental 
India and of Burmah were identical. Mr. Blanford was, I believe, the 
first naturalist to draw attention to their distinctness. The Indian bird, 
the true Loxia philippina of Linnseus, may be recognized by its smaller 
size and by the male in breeding-plumage having the breast suff'used with 
yellow. 
Ploceus megarhynchus, Hume, does not appear to me to difi'er from the 
Burmese form. I have, however, been able to examine only one specimen, 
and I am consequently unable to speak with certainty on this point. 
The well-known Baya is found abundantly over the plains and lower 
hills of the whole of British Burmah, where it is a constant resident. 
It extends down the Malay peninsula, and has been found in Sumatra. 
Dr. Tiraud states that it is common in Cochin China. It ranges through 
the Indo-Burmese countries into Bengal, Sikhim, and Nipal. In the 
peninsula of India it is represented by the allied P. philippinus. 
The Baya is one of the commonest birds of the country, and in the 
summer months, when the head of the male is yellow, one of the most 
conspicuous. The Weaver-birds at all seasons of the year associate in 
large flocks. In the winter they are little noticed ; for they are then 
found in the jungles and paddy-fields consorting with Buntings and 
Sparrows. In the summer, however, they are usually found near the 
habitations of man, frequently selecting the thatched eaves of a house 
from which to suspend their beautiful and remarkable nests. 
The nest, which is made entirely of grass, is a large flask-shaped struc- 
ture, admittance to which is gained through a long and narrow tube, 
sometimes 18 inches in length. This is not the place to describe in detail 
