THE WARBLERS. 35 



predatory in disposition to be trusted with birds smaller 

 than itself. Taken altogether, there is hardly any bird 

 more interesting to the fancier. 



THE WARBLERS. 



The Warblers form a very numerous family of birds, 

 spread all over the Old World. More than a hundred are 

 found in our Empire either as residents or winter visitors, 

 but as they are insignificant little birds, generally smaller 

 than sparrows, and of a plain olive-green or brown in 

 colour, they do not attract attention, especially as they 

 keep close in the trees and bushes, searching for insects 

 on which they live. One of our resident Warblers is, 

 however, an exception, being a very noticeable and well- 

 known bird. 



THE TAILOR-BIRD (Orthotomus sutorius), called Phutki in 

 Hindustani and Tuntuni in Bengali, is at home in every 

 garden as well as in low jungles and bushy grass-land all 

 over India, Ceylon, and Burma ; it ranges east to Siam 

 and China, but does not go more than 4,000 feet up the 

 Himalayas. The figure on Plate IV (Fig. 3) will give 

 a good idea of the male in his summer or breeding plum- 

 age. After the breeding season his tail becomes shorn of 

 its long feathers, and is then shorter than his body instead 

 of longer, as the hen's always is. Both have the same 

 colour ; but the plumage of the young is slightly duller, 

 and the chestnut cap barely indicated in them. 



Many Warblers are good songsters, but the Tailor- 

 bird is not one of these ; he has, however, an astonishingly 

 loud call-note, " to-whit, to-whit" which draws attention 

 to him at once. Also although his wings are short and 



