. While working at the nest the bayas,
more especially the cocks, are in a most excited state. They sing,
scream, flap their wings and snap the bill. Sometimes one cock in his
excitement attacks a neighbour by jumping on his back! This results in
a fight in which the birds flutter in the air, pecking at one another.
Often the combatants "close" for a few seconds, but neither bird seems
to get hurt in these little contests.

Every bird-lover should make a point of watching a company of
weaver-birds while these are constructing their nests. The tree or
trees in which they build can easily be located by sending a servant
in July to search for them. The favourite sites for nests in the
United Provinces seem to be babul trees that grow near borrow pits
alongside the railroad.

In the rainy season two other birds weave nests, which are nearly as
elegant as those woven by the baya. These birds, however, do not nest
in company. They usually build inside bushes, or in long grass.

For this reason they do not lend themselves to observation while at
work so readily as bayas do. The birds in question are the Indian and
the ashy wren-warbler.

The former species brings up two broods in the year. One, as has been
mentioned, in March and the other in the "rains."

The nest of the Indian wren-warbler (_Prinia inornata_) is, except for
its shape and its smaller size, very like that of a weaver-bird. It is
an elongated purse or pocket, closely and compactly woven with fine
strips of grass from 1/40 to 1/20 inch in breadth. The nest is entered
by a hole near the top. Both birds work at the nest, clinging first to
the neighbouring stems of grass or twigs, and later to the nest itself
when this has attained sufficient dimensions to afford them foothold.
They push the ends of the grass in and out just as weaver-birds do.
Like the baya, the Indian wren-warbler does not line its nest. The
eggs are pale greenish-blue, richly marked by various shades of deep
chocolate and reddish-brown. As Hume remarks: "nothing can exceed the
beauty or variety of markings, which are a combination of bold
blotches, clouds and spots, with delicate, intricately woven lines,
recalling somewhat ... those of our early favourite--the
yellow-hammer."

The ashy wren-warbler (_Prinia socialis_) builds two distinct kinds of
nest. One is just like that of the tailor-bird, being formed by sewing
or cobbling together two, three, four or five leaves, and lining the
cu