214 DRYMOICIN.E. 



SUB-FAMILY, Drymoicinse. 



Bill moderately long and compressed ; wings short, rounded ; 

 tail long, more or less graduated ; legs and feet moderately strong. 



GENUS, OrthotOttlUS, Horsfield. 



Bill long, slender, rather wide at the base, nearly entire > 

 straight, very slightly deflexed at the tip ; a few weak rictal 

 bristles ; wing short, feeble, much rounded ; fifth and sixth quills 

 equal and longest; tail narrow, feeble, typically short and 

 rounded or graduated, the two centre feathers elongated in some ; 

 tarsus moderately long, stout ; feet short ; hind- toe short ; claws 

 moderately curved, compressed. 



Orthotomus sutorius, Forst. 



530. Orthotomus longicauda, Gm. Jerdon's Birds of India, 

 Vol. II, p. 165 ; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, 

 p. 479 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 406; Murray's 

 Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 151 ; Sutoria sutoria, Forst. ; 

 Svvinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 126. 



THE INDIAN TAILOR BIRD. 

 Phutki, Hin. 



Length, J, 6*5 ; ? , 5 ; expanse, 5 to 6 ; wing, 1*9 ; tail, J 3'5, 

 ? 2 ; tarsus, 0'9 ; bill at front, 0'5 ; bill at gape, 0'65. 



Bill dark horny above, pale-fleshy beneath ; irides reddish- 

 yellow or amber ; legs fleshy. 



Crown rufous ; nape somewhat cinereous, with a tinge of rufous ; 

 back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, yellowish olive- 

 green ; wings brown, edged with green ; tail narrow, light brown 

 with a green tinge, and the outer feathers on each side with a 

 narrow white tip ; beneath white, with a concealed black spot on 

 each side of the throat, formed by the bases of some of the 

 feathers, and only seen at times. 



There are four dark-brown hairs arising from the nape, two 

 on each side. 



The Tailor Bird is a common permanent resident throughout 

 the district, breeding from the end of June to August. The 

 nests are rather hard to find, although during the time the hen 

 is sitting on the eggs, the cock keeps up a pleasant " tweet" 

 " tweet" on a neighbouring bough, and though one knows that 

 a nest is somewhere near at hand, it requires a careful and per- 

 severing search to find it. 



When the bird chooses a leaf sufficiently large, it sews the 

 opposite edges together, and in the cavity thus formed, it 

 makes a soft nest of cotton, with a few hairs, just enough 

 to keep it in shape ; at times two or more leaves are incorpo- 

 rated into the nest. They lay three (occasionally four) eggs of 

 a rather elongated oval shape, pointed at one end, reddish-white 

 in color, or, I should say, white, suffused with a reddish tinge, 



