THE TAILOR-BIRD 
“A wren, light rustling 
Among the leaves and twigs.” 
ERE a census taken of the birds of 
Madras, the crows would come easily 
first on the list; but there would be 
keen competition between the mynas 
and the tailor-birds for the second place, and I should 
hesitate to say whether the sparrows or the king-crows 
would establish a right to the fourth place, a long way 
behind the third. Abundant though they be, tailor- 
birds are unknown to quite a number of people. It is 
not that they avoid the public gaze or shun the 
“madding crowd.” Far from it. The tailor-bird is 
essentially a creature of garden and verandah; but he 
is not arrayed in gay plumage and is very small, so 
fails to attract the eye. His feathers are of sober hue, 
but he makes up with vivacity what he lacks in brilliance 
of plumage. 
Little folks tend to be more vivacious than big ones. 
The reason of this is, I suppose, that the little people 
have less bulk of body to keep going, and consequently 
have a larger stock of surplus energy. It is as well 
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