A COUPLE OF NEGLECTED 

 CRAFTSMEN 



f "^WO Indian birds have a world- wide repu- 

 tation. Every one has heard of the weaver 

 bird (Ploceus baya) and the tailor-bird 

 (Orthotomus sutorius). Their wonderful 

 nests are depicted in every popular treatise on ornith- 

 ology. They are both master-craftsmen and deserve 

 their reputation. But there are in India birds who build 

 similar nests whose very names are unknown to the 

 great majority of Anglo-Indians. The Indian wren- 

 warbler (Prinia inornata} weaves a nest quite as skil- 

 fully as the famous weaver bird. This neglected crafts- 

 man is common in nearly all parts of India, and, if you 

 speak of the weaver bird to domiciled Europeans, they 

 will think you mean this wren -warbler, for among such 

 he is universally called the weaver bird ; the famous 

 weaver, whose portrait appears in every popular bird 

 book, is known to them as the baya. 



As its name implies, Prinia inornata is a plainly 

 attired little bird. Its upper parts are earthy brown. 

 It has the faintest suspicion of a white eyebrow, and 

 its under plumage is yellowish white, the thighs being 

 darker than the abdomen. Picture a slenderly built 

 wren with a tail three inches in length, which looks as 



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