^28 Foriign lUHchcs in Captivity.
one. It appears to wander about in some localities, for some observers have
stated that it is migratory, but it is certainly a permanent resident in most
parts of the countr}' ; and their roosting places on certain trees are wellknown.
Grain of all kinds, especially rice and various grass-seeds, form the
chief food of the Weaver-bird, and I never obser\'ed it feeding on fruit, as
Sykes asserts he has known it do on the fig of the Banian tree. AAliilst
feeding, particularly, as well as at other times, the whole flock keeps up a
perpetual chirruping. I have seen it feeding in grain fields in company with
flocks of Evibcriza luelatiocephala; and Sykes relates that he has seen it
associate with the common Sparrow.
" T h e Baya breeds during the rains, according to the locality, from April
to September, but I am not aware if they ever have more than one brood.
Its long retort-shaped nest is familiar to all, and it is indeed a marvel of
skill, as elegant in its form, as substantial in its structure, and weather-proof
against the downpour of a Malabar or Burmese Monsoon.
" It is very often suspended from the fronds of some lofty Palm-tree,
either the Palmyra, Cocoanut, or Date, but by no means so universally as Mr.
Blyth would imply, for a Babool (Acacia arabica, or Vuc/icHia FarnesianaJ, or
other tree will often be selected, in preference to a Palm-tree growing close
by, as I have seen within a few miles from Calcutta on the banks of the
canal. A^ery often a tree overhanging a river or tank, or even a large well
is chosen, especially, as Tickill says, if it have spreading branches and scanty
foliage. In India 1 have never seen the Baya suspend its nests except on
trees, but in some parts of Bumiah, and more particularly in Rangoon, the
Bayas usually select the thatch of a bungalow to suspend their nests from,
regardless of the inhabitants within. In the cantonment of Rangoon, very many
bungalows may be seen with twenty, thirty, or more of these long nests hanging
from the end of the thatched roof, and, in one house in which I was an
inmate, that of Dr. Pritchard, Garrison Surgeon there, a small colony commenced
their labors towards the end of April, and, in August, when I revisited that
station, there were above one hundred nests attached all round the house! In
India, in some localities, they appear to evince a partiality to build ni the
neighbourhood of villages or dwellings ; in other places they nidificate in most
retired spots in the jungle, or in a solitary tree in the midst of some large
patch of rice cultivation.
" T h e nest is frequently made of grass of different kinds plucked when
green, sometimes of strips of plantain leaf; and not unfrequently of strips
71n' B(iya If caver. 329
from the leaves of the date-palm, or cocoanut; and I have observed that nests
made of this last material are smaller and less bulky tlian those made with
grass, as if the little architects were quite aware that with such strong fibre
less amount of material was necessary. The nest varies much in the length
both of the upper part or support, and the lower tube or entrance, and the
support is generally solid from the point whence it is hung for two or three
inches, but varies much both in length and strength.
"When the structure has advanced to the spot where the birds have
determined the egg compartment to be, a strong transverse loop is formed, not
in the exact centre, but a little at one side. If then taken from the tree,
and reversed, the nest has the appearance of a basket with its handle * *
Various authors have described this loop or bar as peculiar to the male nest,
or sitting nest, whereas it exists primarily in all, and is simply the point of
separation between the real nest and the tubular entrance, and, being used as a
perch both by the old birds and the j'onng (when grown sufficiently), requires
to be very strong. Up to this time both sexes have worked together indiscriminately
; but when this loop is completed, the female takes up her seat
on it, leaving the cock bird to fetch more fibre and work from the outside
of the nest, whilst she works on the inside, drawing in the fibres pushed
through by the male, re-inserting them in their proper place, and smoothing
all carefully. Considerable time is spent in completing this part of the nest,
the egg chamber being formed on one side of the loop and the tubular entrance
on the other; after which there appears to be an interval of rest. It is at
this stage of the work, from the formation of the loop to the time that the
egg compartment is ready, that the lumps of clay are stuck on, about which
there are so many and conflicting theories. The original notion, derived
entirely, I believe, from the natives, was that the clay was used to stick fireflies
on, to light up the apartment at night. Layard suggests that the bird
uses it to sharpen its bill on ; Burgess that it ser\ies to strengthen the nest.
I, of course, quite disbelieve the flre-fly story, and doubt the other two
suggestions. From an observation of several nests, the times at which the
clay was placed in the nests, and the position occupied, I am inclined to
think that it is used to balance the nest correctly, and to prevent its being
blown about by the wind. In one nest lately examined, there was about three
ounces of clay in six different patches. It is generally believed that the
unfinished nests are built by the male for his own special behoof, and that
the pieces of clay are more commonly found in it than in the complete nests.