MUNIA STEIATA. 
661 
“ M. leucogastroides, Moore (Java). Dorsal plumage unstriated ; all the rectrices black ; flanks white.” 
M. amticauda, which ranges from the mountains of Korthem India, through Burmah, Malacca, to China and Eormosa, 
has also the brown of the chest paler than in striata and with pale shaft-stripes. The upper plumage is likewise 
rather pale compared with that of the latter. The examples I have inspected vary in the wing from 1-95 to 
2'Q inches. A specimen of M. leucogastra measures 1'9 inch in the wing. 
Distribution. — The White-backed or Striated “ Paddy-bird is, next to M. punctulata, the commonest of 
the genus in the Western and Southern provinces, and in those parts frequents the interior more than the 
sea-hoard. It is, however, scattered more or less over all the low country, being found throughout most of the 
north of the island, where it is ehiefly numerous on the sea-coast. It is found in the Central Province, in all 
the western parts, including the Kandy country, up to about 2500 feet, and in Uva is common up to 4000 feet, 
being, in company with M. malacca, more frequent on the patnas round Badulla than the Ilill-Munia. 
On the mainland, as far as India proper is concerned, it seems to be restricted to the peninsula and lower 
Bengal, but it is said likewise to be found in Arrakan [Jerdon, Hume) . It is evidently a locally-stationed 
species. In the ‘Birds of India,’ Jerdon writes that it is most abundant on the Malabar coast, and occurs 
sparingly in other parts of India, in the Northern Circars, and in Lower Bengal, The Eev. Dr. Fairbank 
records it from “ Khandala to Goa, along the Ghat hills j” but Messrs. Davidson and Wonder do not include it 
in their avifauna of the Deccan. Mr. Aitken met with it in Bombay. On the eastern side of the peninsula we 
find Mr. Ball noting it from Maubhum, Singhbhum, and Eaipur ; and Mr. Hume from Sambalpur, north and 
south of the Alahanadi river. It is said to visit, but not to be resident on, the Nilghiris. 
Habits. — This “ Finch ” does not associate in such flocks as the spotted species, but is met with chiefly in 
small parties of less than a dozen, frequenting waste, scrubby land, clearings in the jungle overgrown with 
bushes, long grass, and very often w’ild jungle and forest, in the very heart of wEich I have seen it; in its 
nature, therefore, it assimilates to the Ceylon Hill-Munia. When the “paddy” is in ear it resorts to the 
fields and devours the ripening grain after the manner of its congeners, and when driven off by the watch- 
boys, alights on the tops of adjacent bushes, and waits its opportunity to return to the attack. It is fond of the 
Kurrukan {Eleusine indica), which, being grown in clearings in the jungle, is never free from its foragings ; it 
likewise feeds on the berry of the Lantana and other plants. Its flight is feeble and straight, being performed 
with regular beatings of the wing, and is accompanied by its plaintive chirrup note. 
I glean but little concerning its economy from Indian writings. Jerdon remarks that it is a familiar bird 
in Malabar, “ being constantly seen on the road-side, about houses, and in stable-yards, and it builds in gardens 
and orchards.” Miss Cockburn’s experience of it in the Nilghiris is contrary to this. She writes, “ The 
White-backed Munia is not a resident on the Nilghiris, but accompanies the Amaduvads and Spotted Munias 
in their migrations, and is generally met with in their society, except in the breeding-season, when they are 
seen alone and in pairs. They are not numerous, and are very shy, never approaching any house. In this 
respect they are quite unlike the Spotted Munia, whose unceremoniousness endears him to us.” 
Nidification. — The breeding-season in the north and south is, for the most part, from May until August ; 
but, like all these birds, it appears to be constantly nesting, most probably rearing two broods in the year. The 
nest is built in the fork of a shrub or among the small branches of low trees, from 3 to 10 feet from the 
ground generally ; it is a loosely-made untidy structure of grass, in the form of a large hall, with the entrance 
at the side ; the egg-cavity is large and destitute of any lining, save that furnished by the materials of the body 
of the nest. In shape the eggs are ovate, pure white and tolerably glossy, smaller than those of M. punctidatu, 
some measuring as little as 0'5 inch in length by 0’4 in breadth; they vary, however, uji to 0'65 by 0'45. 
As regards India, Mr. Hume remarks that the breeding-season varies according to locality ; “ in the 
Nilghiris they appear,” he says, “ to lay in July and August. From Yercand a nest was sent to me, taken on 
the 28th of September, containing six eggs Near Eaipoor nests were taken in January, and in 
Manbhoom in April.” The nest is described by various observers as large, and loosely constructed of fine and 
coarse grasses, which, in one that Mr. Blewitt writes about, was intermixed with dry bamboo-leaves. The 
average size of ten Indian eggs is 0'61 by 0-44 inch. 
