TAii.oR.-Bmn. I t is impofiible not to mention the tailor bird, Ind. Zool.
tab. viii, a warbler ; on account o f its wonderful neft; my own
account of its ceconomy, taken from the Indian Zoology, page
44, deferves attention. It is thus introduced :
“ Had Providence left the feathered tribe unendowed with
“ any particular inftinct, the birds of the torrid zone would
|| have built their nefts in the fame unguarded manner as thofe
“ of Europe: but there, the leffer fpecies, having a certain
“ prefcience o f the dangers that furround them, and o f their
“ own weaknefs, fufpend their neft at the extreme branches o f
“ the trees: they are confcious o f inhabiting a climate replete
“ With enemies to them and their young; with fnakes that
“ twine up the bodies of the trees, and apes that are perpetu-
“ ally in fearch o f prey; but, heaven-inftrutfted, they elude the
“ gliding o f the one, and the activity of the other,
“ T he brute creation in the torrid zone, are more at enmity
“ with one another, than in other climates; and the birds are
“ obliged to exert unufual artifice in placing their little broods
“ out o f the reach o f an invader. Each aims at the fame end,
“ though by different meahs. Some form their penfile neft in
“ iha’pe o f a purfe, deep, and open at top; others, With a hole
“ in the fide; and others, ftill more cautious, with an entrance
“ at the very bottom, forming their lodge near the iummit.
* But the little fpecies we delcribe, feerns To hafre greater
“ diffidence than any Of the others ;■ it Will not- fruit its neft
“ even to the extremity of a flender twig, but makes one.more
“ advance to fafety, by fixing it to the leaf itfelf.
it j T
“ It picks up a dead leaf, and, furprifing to relate, fews it to
“ the fide of a living one, its flender bill being its needle, and
“ its thread fome fine fibres; the lining, feathers, goflarner,
“ and down. Its eggs are white: the color of the bird, light
“ yellow; its length three inches; its weight only three fix-
“ teenths o f an ounce; Ip that the materials of the neft, and its
“ own fize, are not likely to draw down 3 habitation that de-
“ pends 011 fo flight a tenure.”
Two fly-catchers, of uncommon form, attraft the eyes of all Flv-Catcher.
ftrangers : frnall birds, with tails o f enormous length, darting
through the air like arrows. Both are engraved by Mr. Edwards,
one in tab. 113, of a black and white color, with a eunei-
form tail; the other with a rufous back and tail, and two feathers
exceeding the others in length by near nine inches-.
As thefe are remarkable for the length of their tails, a pie,
engraven by Mr. Edwards, in tab. 324, is diftin-guifljed for the
ridiculous brevity of that part, and alfo for the beauty o f its
colors. Linnaus calls it Corvus Brachyurus.
Sw a l l o w s (I d o n o t k n o w t h e fp e c ie s ) n e v e r quit Ceylon.
P i g e o n s in India affume the moft beautiful colors. The Pigeon.
pompadour pigeon o f this ifland, Brown's Ultt/lr. tab. xix. xx.
the general color o f which is a fine pale green; the male dif-
tinguifhed by having the coverts o f the wings o f a fine pompadour
color, is one proof. I mention this in particular, on
account of its hiftory ; but more fo- for that of the m3gnificent
tree on which it ufually alights to -feed.
T h is fpecies fwarms in certain feafons in the ifland o f Cey- FicosIndica.
Ion, particularly when the fruit of the Fieus lndica, or broad
leaved