MONOGRAPH OF PLOCEUS BA YA 
29 
there is a tree with flexible boughs overhanging a well or pool of 
water, they will fix their nests at the very tip of one or other of 
them ; doubtless judging that in such situations they will be 
shielded from the depredations of their natural enemies, which 
are squirrels, snakes, and monkeys, though oftentimes the grey- 
necked crow will settle upon their nests and devour both eggs 
and young birds. 
The grass from which the Indian baya builds his nest is 
usually the “ kusha ” or sacred grass of the Hindus ; it is one of 
the Poacca and is known with us as the dog’s-tail grass. In 
the Malayan Peninsula they weave together the young sljoots of 
the “ lalang ” ( Gramen caricosum) and sometimes what is called 
the “buffalo” grass, and other fodder and pasture grasses. 
Under difficulties they have even been observed to strip into 
narrow shreds the rigid leaves of the pine and sugar cane, and the 
green leaves of the millet, the Indian millet or Sorghum vulgare. 
It is curious to notice with what care they fasten the first 
hold on to a branch or twig ; the grass is literally rolled round 
and round, over and under, and here and there knotted, so that 
the nest may be able to resist the force of high winds ; and then 
they twist and twirl on to it the lower portion, which is to form the 
neck, and this, I take it, is to enable the nest to vibrate like a 
pendulum with the easiest possible swing. In weaving the nest 
proper they may be seen working busily together, moving the 
grass backwards and forwards and in and out, always taking care 
to plant it in a downward direction, so as to act as a sort of 
thatch to keep off the rain. 
On either side of the male nest, near to the perch, is always 
to be found adhering to the grass small bits of clay, or rather 
mud, but what this is intended for no one can surmise. Some 
say that it is to act as a whetstone to sharpen their beaks ; others, 
from what natives have told them, think that the male bird puts 
a firefly or glow-worm on the wet mud, in order to act as a light 
