THE TAILOR-BIRD 27 
though it may seem, this distribution of colour causes 
an animal to be less conspicuous than it would be were 
it of a uniform brown hue. 
This is proved by the following experiment conducted 
at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. 
In a square box, lined with grey flannel, are placed two 
bird models, which are covered with flannel of the same 
hue as that which lines the box. One model is painted 
dark above and white below, the other is left un- 
coloured, or, rather, is grey all over. The uncoloured 
bird is the more conspicuous. The painted bird, by 
counteracting the normal light and shade, becomes at 
two yards’ distance almost invisible. This may be one 
of the reasons why so many birds, beasts, and fishes are 
darker in colour above than below. 
But to return to the description of the tailor-bird, 
In the breeding season, that is to say, from April to 
August, the two middle tail-feathers of the cock bird 
grow to a greater length than the others and project two 
inches beyond them as sharp bristles, 
Such then are tailor-birds, of which a dozen or more 
are to be seen in almost every garden in the plains of 
India, flitting and hopping about among the shrubs and 
-plants looking for insects, and giving vent to their note, 
which may be syllabized as Zo-wt, to-wit, to-wit, or 
pretty, pretty, pretty. The sound varies greatly with 
the individual. Some people object to the call of 
the tailor-bird ; they complain that it “gets on their 
nerves.” 
Personally, I would not willingly miss the joyous 
note from the bird-chorus, although I am prepared to 
