72 A BIRD CALENDAR 



The iora is a feathered exquisite, about the 

 size of a tomtit. The cock is arrayed in green, 

 black and gold ; his mate is gowned in green 

 and yellow. 



The iora has a great variety of calls, of 

 these a soft and rather plaintive long-drawn- 

 out whistle is uttered most frequently in April 

 and May. 



In shape and size the nest resembles an 

 after-dinner coffee cup. It is beautifully 

 woven, and, like those of the white-eye and 

 fantail flycatcher, covered with cobweb ; this 

 gives it a very neat appearance. In it are laid 

 two or three eggs of salmon hue with reddish- 

 brown and purple-grey blotches. 



Throughout April the sprightly tailor-birds 

 are busy with their nests. The tailor-bird 

 (Orthotomus sutorius) is a wren with a long tail. 

 In the breeding season the two median caudal 

 feathers of the cock project as bristles beyond 

 the others. The nest is a wonderful structure. 

 Having selected a suitable place, which may be 

 a bush in a garden or a pot plant in a verandah, 

 the hen tailor-bird proceeds to make, with her 

 sharp bill, a series of punctures along the 

 margins of one or more leaves. The punctured 

 edges are then drawn together, by means of 



