WARBLER. 79 



66— TAILOR WARBLER. 



Sylvia sutoria, Ind. Orn. ii. 551. 



Motacilla sutoria, Gm. Lin. i. 999. Zool. Ind. p. 17. 1. 18. Nat. Misc. pi. 237. 

 Tati, on Oiseau-Mouche, TV. Schout. Voy. Ind. ii. 513. t. p. 15. 



Tailor Warbler, Gen. Syn. iv. 515. Ind. Zool. 4to. 44. pi. 10. Penn. Hindoost. i. 206. 

 Wood's Zoogr.i. 491. SAauj'* Zoo/, x. 753. 



SHAPE of the Willow Wren, but smaller ; length three inches 

 and a half. Bill a quarter of an inch long, nearly straight, and 

 black ; plumage on the upper parts of the body pale olive yellow ; 

 chin and throat yellow ; breast and belly dusky white ; vent pale 

 yellow; quills dusky, edged slightly with yellow, the first quill 

 shorter than the second or third, which is the longest of the three ; 

 tail dusky, legs brown ; quills reach to about the middle of the tail. 



Inhabits Ceylon ; one said to weigh only 90 grains, and to be no 

 more than three inches long. We have very little doubt of the bird 

 described above being the same as a specimen, which is in the 

 collection of Mr. Comyns, and named Kaha Tuhitya. It is chiefly 

 remarkable for the nest, which is curiously constructed, being com- 

 posed of two leaves, one of them dead ; the latter is fixed to the 

 living one as it hangs from the tree, by sewing both together in the 

 manner of a pouch, or purse; it is open at top, and the cavity filled 

 with fine down, and being suspended from the branch, the birds are 

 secure from the depredation of snakes and monkies, to which they 

 might otherwise fall a prey ; the eggs are said to be white. 



In my own collection is a nest of an equally singular construction ; 

 it is composed of a single large leaf, of a fibrous rough texture, about 

 six inches long, independent of the stalk ; five inches and a half in 

 breadth, and ending in a point : the sides of this leaf are drawn 

 together, so as to meet within three quarters of an inch ; within this 

 is the nest, which is about four inches deep, and two broad, opening 

 at the top; and the bottom of the leaf is drawn upwards to assist in 



