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.