664 
MUJSriA 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, Alessrs. 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, Nowagarh, and Karial, Orissa north of Mahanadi, 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. PinwelFs specimens were procured, as I under- 
stand, beneath the N.W. Himalayas. Travelling westward we find that it is common in Sindh, 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-errass field 
attached to my quarters on the GaUo 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 agaiir for a day or two. In 1872 I observed one or two close to the Galle Fort, feeding on the 
esplanade just outside the rampai’ts. 
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 abimdant in Oudh 
and Lower Bengal, e.xtenditig into the lower ranges of the Himalayas as well as to Assam and Burmah.” 
It ascends the Nilghiris to an elevation of COOO feet to breed ; near Mahabaleshwar 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 tho inundation. “In the bare portions of 
the N.W . Provinces and liajpootana,” 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 and the districts of the Doab 
northwards, in many places in Oudh and Eohilkund, Saugor, Chanda, Eaipoor, in the Centi-al Provinces, in the more 
fertile portions of Sindh, in all our Dhoous and Terais — I Imow of it nesting.” Jlr. Cripps once observed it in Furreed- 
poi e ; and Mi . Ball found it at Manbhum, Sirguja, and Lohardugga. It is a visitor to N.E. Cachar, arriving in October 
and departing in March {Inglis). 
Eahits. 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 groat avidity. In June the male bird uttered a low sweet little song when 
perched on the top of a grass-stalk, w'hich scarcely bent its head beneath tho tiny weight. They are caught in 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 in numbers ” 
{Jerdon). In India it is said to affect bushy ground, 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. 
Nidification.—This little bird has two broods in the year, and breeds in the plains from November tiU February and 
from June till August ; but in the Nilghiris, writes Mr. Hume, the breeding-season lasts from Mav till December. The 
nest is described as an oblate spheroid mass, loosely but not untidily built of fine grass, and lined with fine seed-dowm ; 
the entrance circular and at one side. Miss Cockbum 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 
