500 



NATURAL lli:STORY OF BIRDS. 



tnink, beginning ncnr the bottom and widening upwards. Inside this, the real nest, 

 nearly tlirce inches dee]! and two indies in diameter, was neatly construeted of wool 

 and fine vegetable fibres, the bottom being thinly lined with hoi-se-hair. In this lay 

 three tiny, delicate, bluish-white eggs, with a few jiale reddish-brown blotches at the 

 large end, and just a very few spots and sjiecks of the same color elsewhere.' I have 

 often seen nests made between many leaves, and I have seen plenty witli a dead leaf 

 stitched to a yet living one ; but in these points my experience entirely coincides with 

 that of Mr. A. Anderson, whose note I i)roceed to quote : ♦ The dry loaves that are 

 sometimes mot with attaclieil to the nest of this species, and which gave rise to the 



Fio. 245. — C'ii(ico(a ciilicula, fuutail-warkltir ; Lilliu ceXi, CtslU'ii Ijusli-uarblcr ; Acrocephalus tchoenoboentu, 



sedge-warbler. 



erroneous idea that the bird picks u]) 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 IJrinjal plant (Solcimim esculent um), which 

 had all the a])pearanee of having had dry leaves attached to it. The nest originally 

 consisted of three leaves, but two of tlicm had been jiiereed (in the act of ])assing the 

 thread througli them) to excess, and had in conseciuence not only decaj-ed, but actually 

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

 side of the nest by a mere thread, and couM have been removed with jierfeot safety.' 

 The ground color of the eggs is either reddish-white or jiale bluish-green. Of the 

 two types, the reddish-white is the more common, in the proportion of two to one. 



