NKST OF THE TAILOR-BIRD. 191 



The author of the ' Architecture of Birds' also states, on 

 the authority of Latham and Edwards, that there is a bird in 

 the West Indies (the Bonana Starling) which combines leaves 

 and fibres in a most ingenious manner, and sews them " to 

 the under part of a bonana leaf, so that the leaf makes one 

 side of the nest." 



It cannot surely be thought out of reason for a little bird 

 in the East Indies to busy himself in pretty nearly the same 

 manner as another bird does in the West. It is worthy of 

 observation, that Darwin speaks of the tailor-bird, which he 

 describes as a bright yellow bird, while Forbes describes him 

 as possessing as gay plumage as that of the harlequin hum- 

 ming-bird : it is, perhaps, possible that Dr. Darwin's autho- 

 rity might have viewed the female only, or yellow may be the 

 colour of the youthful jirkin, before the complete tailor- apparel 

 is complete. But is it not also possible that there are two 

 birds in the East Indies which construct their nests, the one 

 of leaves, the other amongst them, both using the needle f 

 and thus may not both accounts be true ? 



I am well aware that we should incline to the statements 

 of the ocular observer, rather than to those of the theorist at 

 home ; but I do not like to give up the evidence of the nests 

 themselves. Perhaps, Sir, you may be able to throw some 

 light upon these ingenious architects. I shall be much gra- 

 tified if these hasty observations of mine should be the means 

 of leading to a further investigation of this curious fact. 

 There are many Englishmen in India, — men of leisure, too, 

 — but I fear there is no Alexander Wilson among them. 



C. E. 



London, May 3rd, 1833. 



We are happy in being able to add to the observations of 

 our Correspondent the testimony of an accurate and talented 

 observer, relative to the interesting habits of the tailor-bird. 



Colonel Sykes, whose zoological researches in India may 

 well bear a comparison with those of the American ornitholo- 

 gist, states, that the species of tailor-bird (Orthotomus Ben- 

 nettii) whose operations came under his observation, " con- 

 structed its nest by sewing the leaves of trees together with 

 cotton thread and fibres ;" and that he "has seen nests in 

 which the thread used was literally knotted at the end." In 

 this species the sexes are alike in plumage. — Proceedings of 

 Zoological Society, vol. ii. p. 90. 



