Part 67

The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Mandelli in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling in July are so similar to those obtained by Mr. Gammie, and of which he sent me the parent bird, that no second description is necessary. They are a shade smaller, but the difference is not more than is always observable in even the same species. They measure 0·67 in length, and 0·53 to 0·55 in breadth.

372. Tribura luteiventris, Hodgs. The Brown Bush-Warbler.

Tribura luteiventris, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 161; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 522.

A bird unquestionably belonging to this species, the Brown Bush-Warbler, was sent me along with a single egg from Native Sikhim. The bird was said to have been killed off the nest (which was not preserved), which was found, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, in low brushwood about 3 feet from the ground.

The egg is a very regular, rather broad oval, has only a faint gloss, and is of a very rich deep maroon-red, slightly darker at the large end.

The egg measures 0·62 by 0·49.

374. Orthotomus sutorius (Forst.). The Indian Tailor-bird.

Orthotomus longicauda (Gm.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 165; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 530.

The Indian Tailor-bird breeds throughout India and Burma, alike in the plains and in the hills (e.g., the Himalayas and Nilgiris), up to an elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet.

The breeding-season lasts from May to August, both months included; but in the plains more nests are to be found in July, and in the hills more, I think, in June, than during the other months.

The nest has been often described and figured, and, as is well known, is a deep soft cup enclosed in leaves, which the bird sews together to form a receptacle for it.

It is placed at all elevations, and I have as often found it high upon a mango-tree as low down amongst the leaves of the edible egg-plant (Solanum esculentum).

The nests vary much, in appearance, according to the number and description of leaves which the bird employs and the manner in which it employs them; but the nest itself is usually chiefly composed of fine cotton-wool, with a few horsehairs and, at times, a few very fine grass-stems as a lining, apparently to keep the wool in its place and enable the cavity to retain permanently its shape.

I have found the nests with three leaves fastened, at equal distances from each other, into the sides of the nest, and not joined to each other at all.

I have found them between two leaves, the one forming a high back and turned up at the end to support the bottom of the nest, the other hiding the nest in front and hanging down well below it, the tip only of the first leaf being sewn to the middle of the second. I have found them with four leaves sewn together to form a canopy and sides, from which the bottom of the nest depended bare; and I have found them between two long leaves, whose sides from the very tips to near the peduncles were closely and neatly sewn together. For sewing they generally use cobweb; but silk from cocoons, thread, wool, and vegetable fibres are also used.

The eggs vary from three to four in number; but I find that out of twenty-seven nests containing more or less incubated eggs, of which I have notes, exactly two thirds contained only three, and one third four eggs.

About the colour of the eggs there has been some dispute, but this is owing to the birds laying two distinct types of eggs, which will be described below. Hutton's and Jerdon's descriptions of the eggs, white spotted with rufous or reddish brown, are quite correct, but so are those of other writers, who call them bluish green, similarly marked. Tickell, who gives them as "pale greenish blue, with irregular patches, especially towards the larger end, resembling dried stains of blood, and irregular and broken lines scratched round, forming a zone near the larger end," had of course got hold of the eggs of a Franklinia. I have taken hundreds of both types, and I note that, as in the case of Dicrurus ater, eggs of the two types are never found in the same nest. All the eggs in each nest always belong to one or the other type.

The parent birds that lay these very different looking eggs certainly do not differ; that I have positively satisfied myself.

I quote an exact description of a nest which I took at Bareilly, and which was recorded on the spot:--

"Three of the long ovato-lanceolate leaves of the mango, whose peduncles sprang from the same point, had been neatly drawn together with gossamer threads run through the sides of the leaves and knotted outside, so as to form a cavity like the end of a netted purse, with a wide slit on the side nearest the trunk beginning near the bottom and widening upwards. Inside this, the real nest, nearly 3 inches deep and about 2 inches in diameter, was neatly constructed of wool and fine vegetable fibres, the bottom being thinly lined with horsehair. In this lay three tiny delicate bluish-white eggs, with a few pale reddish-brown blotches at the large ends, and just a very few spots and specks of the same colour elsewhere."

Dr. Jerdon says:--"The Tailor-bird makes its nest with cotton, wool, and various other soft materials, sometimes also lined with hair, and draws together one leaf or more, generally two leaves, on each side of the nest, and stitches them together with cotton, either woven by itself, or cotton-thread picked up, and after passing the thread through the leaf, it makes a knot at the end to fix it. I have seen a Tailor-bird at Saugor watch till the native tailor had left the verandah where he had been working, fly in, seize some pieces of the thread that were lying about, and go off in triumph with them; this was repeated in my presence several days running. I have known many different trees selected to build in; in gardens very often a guava-tree. The nest is generally built at from 2 to 4 feet above the ground. The eggs are two, three, or four in number, and in every case which I have seen were white spotted with reddish brown chiefly at the large end.... Layard describes one nest made of cocoanut-fibre entirely, with a dozen leaves of oleander drawn and stitched together. I cannot call to recollection ever having seen a nest made with more than two leaves.... Pennant gives the earliest, though somewhat erroneous, account of the nest. He says: 'The bird picks up a dead leaf and, surprising to relate, sews it to the side of a living one.'"

I have often seen nests made between many leaves, and I have seen plenty with a dead leaf stitched to a yet living one; but in these points my experience entirely coincides with that of the late Mr. A. Anderson, whose note I proceed to quote:--

"The dry leaves that are sometimes met with attached to the nest of this species, and which gave rise to the erroneous idea that the bird picks up a dead leaf and, surprising to relate, sews it to the side of a living one, are easily accounted for.

"I took a nest of the Tailor-bird a short time ago" (11th July, 1871) from a brinjal plant (Solanum esculentum), which had all the appearance of having had dry leaves attached to it. The nest originally consisted of three leaves, but two of them had been pierced (in the act of passing the thread through them) to excess, and had in consequence not only decayed, but actually separated from the stem of the plant. These decayed leaves were hanging from the side of the nest by a mere thread, and could have been removed with perfect safety. Perhaps instinct teaches the birds to injure certain leaves in order that they may decay?

"Jerdon says that he does not remember ever having seen a nest made with more than two leaves. I have found the nest of this species vary considerably in appearance, size, and in the number of leaves employed, and, I would also add, in the site selected, as well as in the markings of the eggs, which latter never exceed four in number.

"The nest already described was built hardly 2 feet off the ground, was rather clumsy (if I might use such an expression), and was composed of three leaves. The eggs were white, covered with brownish-pink blotches almost coalescing at the large end. Another nest, taken in my presence (July, again, which is the general time) from the very top of a high tree, was enclosed inside of one leaf, the sides being neatly sewn together, and the cavity at the bottom lined with wool, down, and horsehair. These eggs (four) are covered, chiefly at the larger ends, with minute red spots.

"A third nest seen by me was composed of seven or eight leaves".

Captain Hutton tells us that he has seen many nests. All were "composed of cotton, wool, vegetable fibre, and horsehair, formed in the shape of a deep cup or purse, enclosed between two long leaves, the edges of which were sewed to the sides of the nest, in a manner to support it, by threads spun by the bird."