its bill, and deposit it between a lady's lips, and repeat this offering to every lady present, the bird following the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is then brought, which the bird loads with coarse grains of powder...." Robert Tytler noted demonstrations where the bird would twirl a thin stick with fires at the ends over its head. These uses have been noted from the time of Akbar. Local names Túkúra Sorai (Assamese: টোকোৰা চৰাই); baya, son-chiri (Hindi); bayya chirya (Urdu: بیّا چڑیا ); ବାୟା ଚଢ଼େଇ (Odia); sugaran (Marathi); tempua (Malay); sughari (Gujarati); বাবুই (babui) (Bengali); parsupu pita, gijigadu/gijjigadu గిజిగాడు (Telugu); gijuga ಗಿಜುಗ (Kannada); thukanam kuruvi, ആറ്റക്കുരുവി (Malayalam); thukanan-kuruvi, தூக்கணாங்குருவி (Tamil); wadu-kurulla, tatteh-kurulla, goiyan-kurulla (Sinhala); sa-gaung-gwet, sar-buu-daung စာဗူးတောင်း (Burmese); bijra (Punjabi: ਬਿਜੜਾ ); suyam (Chota Nagpur), bagra(Maithili). संस्कृतम् (सुगृहः/चञ्चूसूचकः) Marathi (सुगरण पक्षी) Gallery References Other sources Alexander, Horace (1972) Nest building of the Baya Weaver Bird. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 12(9):12. Anon. (1981) Multiple Baya nests. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 21(1):2-4. Davis, T. A. (1966) Nesting Behaviour of the Baya (Ploceus philippinus, L.). (Technical Report No. Nat 4/66.) Research and Training School, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta. 28 pages. Mathew,DN (1971) Ecology and biology of the Baya Weaver Bird Ploceus philippinus. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Bombay, Bombay. Mohan, D. (1991) Common baya weaver bird - nest building habits. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 31(9-10):2-4. Serrao, J.S. (1971) Nesting of the Baya Weaver Bird Ploceus philippinus. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 11(10):11. Sharma, S.K. (1995) Nests of Baya used as filling fibre in southern Rajasthan. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 35(3):57-58. Sharma, Satish Kumar (1985) A study of qualitative aspect of abnormal nesting in Baya Weaver Bird the Ploceus philippinus and P. benghalensis. J. Southern Forest Ranger's College 61:50-54. Sidhartha, D. (1981) Baya nests in October. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 21(1):8. Singh, T. G. M. (1980) An observation on the behaviour of Indian Baya (Ploceus phillipinus) in captivity during solar eclipses. Mayura 1(2):20-21. Stairmand, D.A. (1971) Pre-monsoon breeding of the Baya Ploceus philippinus. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 11(9):12. Thapliyal, J. P.; Tewary, P. D. (1964) Effect of light on the pituitary, gonad and plumage pigmentation in the Avadavat (Estrilda amandava) and Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus). Proc. Zool. Soc. London 142, 67–71. Vardhani, B. P.; Rao, P. S.; Srimannarayana,G. (1992) The efficacy of certain plant extracts as repellents against House Sparrow, Passer domesticus and Baya Weaver Bird Ploceus philippinus. J. Appl. Zool.