THE TAILOR-BIRD AND THE ORIOLE. 55 
thread, (her needle being her bill, and her 
thread the fibres of a plant), she sews the 
dead leaf to the side of a living one, and in 
the space between she makes her nest. Small 
as the space is, it is quite large enough for 
the tiny eggs she lays ; and she lines it with 
gossamer, that the little tailor-birds may feel 
themselves quite snug and comfortable. The 
leaf, with the nest sewed into it, swings about 
in the wind as it did before, for the weight 
of the bird does not draw it down in the 
least. It is hidden from the prying eyes of 
the forest robbers ; and here the young brood 
are hatched in safety. You might see them 
put out their heads when they are expecting 
their mother back with an insect or a worm 
for their food. But at the slightest sound of 
danger, in they draw them, and there seems 
to be nothing but the leaf hanging with the 
other leaves upon the bough. 
Another little bird, called the Indian spar- 
row, is equally ingenious. She builds her nest 
on the highest tree she can find, and if it 
overhangs a river she is so much the better 
pleased. She makes it of grass, which she 
weaves like cloth, and fashions it into the 
