ORTIIOTOMUS. 233 



neatly coDstvucted of wool and fine vegetable fibres, the bottom 

 being thinly lined with horsehair. In this lay three tiny delicate 

 blnish-\Aliite eggs, with a few pale reddish-brown blotches at the 

 large ends, and just a very few spots and specks of the same colour 

 elsewhere." 



Dr. Jerdon says : — " The Tailor-bird makes its nest witli cotton, 

 wool, and various other soft materials, sometimes also lined with 

 hair, and draw s together one leaf or more, generally two leaves, 

 on each side of the nest, and stitches them together w ith cotton, 

 either woven by itself, or cotton-thread picked up, and after passing 

 the tiiread through the leaf, it makes a knot at the end to fix it. 

 1 have seen a Tailor-bird at Waugor watch till the native tailor had 

 left the verandah where he had been working, fly in, seize some 

 pieces of the thread that w ere lying about, and go off in triumph 

 with t hem ; this was repeated in my piesence several days running. 

 I have known many different trees selected to build in ; in gardens 

 very often a guava-tree. The nest is geneially built at from 2 to 

 4 feet above the ground. The eggs are two, three, or four in 

 number, and in every case which I have seen were white spotted 

 with reddish brown chiefly at the large end .... Layard describes 

 one nest made of cocoanut-fibre entirely, with a dozen leaves of 

 oleander drawn and stitched together. I cannot call to recollection 

 ever having seen a nest made with more than two leaves .... Pen- 

 nant gives the earliest, though somewhat erroneous, account of the 

 nest. He says : ' The bird picks up a dead leaf and, surprising to 

 relate, sews it to the side of a living one.' " 



I have often seen nests made between many leaves, and I have 

 seen plenty with a dead leaf stitched to a yet li^'ing one ; but in 

 these points my experience entirely coincides with that of the late 

 Mr. A. Anderson, whose note I proceed to quote : — 



" The dry leaves that are sometimes met w ith attached to the 

 nest of this species, and which gave rise to the erroneous idea that 

 the ' bird picks up a dead leaf and, surprising to relate, sews it to 

 the side of a living one,' are easily accounted for. 



"I took a nest of the Tailor-bird a short time ago (11th July, 

 1871) from a brinjal plant (Solanum escidentum), which had all 

 the appearance of having had dry leaves attached to it. The nest 

 originally consisted of tJiree leaves, but two of them had been 

 pierced (in the act of passing the thread through them) to excess, 

 and had in consequence not only decayed, hut actually separated 

 from the stem of the plant. These decayed leaves were hanging 

 from tie side of the nest by a mere thread, and could have been 

 removed with perfect safety. Perhaps instinct teaches the birds 

 to injure certain leaves in order that they may decay ? 



" Jerdon says that he does not remember ever having seen a nest 

 made with more than two leaves. I have found the nest of this 

 species vary considerably in appearance, size, and in the number 

 of leaves employed, and, I would also add, in the site selected, as 

 w ell as in the markings of the eggs, which latter never exceed 

 four in number. 



