216 
ORNITHOLOGY. 
grass backwards and forwards in and out. In fact, they 
work very mucli like the Bay a (P. baya^, and the nest, 
though much smaller, is in texture very like that of 
this latter species, the great difference being that the 
Baya chiefly uses stemSy and the Drymoipus strips of blades 
of grass. The nest varies in shape and in size according 
to its situation ; a very favourite locality is in amongst 
clumps of the sarpatta, or the serpent grass, in which case, 
the bird builds a long and purse-like nest, attached above 
and all round to the surrounding grass-stems with a small 
entrance near the top ; such nests are often eight or nine 
inches in length, and three or even more in external dia- 
meter, and with an internal cavity measuring an inch and 
