on the Birds of South-Eastern China. 59 



contain elastic material, for no matter how much they 

 stretch they never break. 



The long axis of the leaf bag, with the nest in it, is 

 always either horizontal or inclined at an obtuse angle to 

 the ground, so that the whole is most beautifully waterproof 

 in the heaviest tropical downpour, and the contents are, 

 moreover, hidden from view from above, wdiich tends to save 

 them from Magpies and other winged marauders. 



From careful observation of Tailor-birds in the grounds 

 of the Naval Hospital at Hong Kong it appeared almost 

 certain that a pair of birds always makes use of the leaves 

 of the same plant in constructing the receptacle for the nest, 

 and that those individuals which make it of two leaves on 

 one occasion do not on another make it of one leaf, and 

 vice versa. 



No species is more easily alarmed or more readily forsakes 

 an incomplete nest, and often it is sufficient to have looked 

 at it from a distance of several yards to frighten the birds into 

 beginning a new one. 



The nest is not easy to see, though, as a rule, the white 

 knots on the green of the leaf reveal its presence, especially 

 Avheu attention has been directed to a likely bush by the 

 anxious calling of tlie Tailor-birds. 



Almost invariably the nest is placed low down, at eleva- 

 tions of from one to three feet, very often in quite a small 

 plant, and only twice was it seen as high as six or seven feet 

 above the ground. 



Like many resident birds Sutoria shews considerable 

 preference for certain localities, so that the nest of one 

 season is often placed at a distance of a few yards only from 

 that of the previous year. 



The leaves of the following plants are those most affected 

 for making the receptacles for its nest : — Lisea polyantha, 

 CalUcarpa tomentosa, Ficus chlorocarpa, and the largest of 

 the Melastomacece. 



As is well known, the eggs of Sutoria are either bluish 

 or white in ground-colour, with reddish markings, and it is 



