The Tailor-bird of Hindostan (_Sylvia sutoria_) is equally curious in the structure of its nest, and far superior in the elegance and variety of its plumage, which in the male glows with the varied tints of the colibri. Selecting a suitable leaf, generally one which hangs from the end of a slender twig, the little artist pierces a row of holes along each edge, using his beak as a shoemaker uses his awl. When the holes are completed the feathered tailor next selects his thread, which is a long fibre of some plant, and passing it through the holes, draws the sides of the leaf towards each other, so as to form a kind of hollow cone, the point downwards. Generally a single leaf answers the purpose, but whenever the bird cannot find one sufficiently long, it sews two together, or even fetches another leaf and fastens it with the fibre. The interior of the hollow is then lined with a quantity of soft white down, and thus a warm, light, and elegant nest is constructed, scarcely visible among the foliage, and safe from the attacks of almost every foe but man. Who, on witnessing these miracles of instinct, would not exclaim with the poet: Behold a bird’s nest! Mark it well, within, without! No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut; No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert, No glue to join: his little beak was all! And yet how neatly finish’d! What nice hand, With every implement and means of art, Could compass such another? The Honey Eaters of Australia and the neighbouring archipelagoes, where they seem to occupy the position which is taken in America by the humming-birds, and by the sun birds of Asia and South Africa, have thus been named from their feeding largely on the sweet juices of many flowers, although the staple of their diet consists of insects. Some are splendidly decorated, others captivate the ear by their melodious song. They are most lively and interesting birds, affording an endless fund of amusement to the careful observer. Never still, they traverse the branches of the trees with astonishing celerity, skipping from one to another, and probing every crevice with their needle-like tongue. Like the humming-birds they display great ingenuity in the building of their nests which the Singing and Painted Honey Eaters (_Ptilotus sonorus_; _Entomophila picta_) suspend from the long and slender branches of the pendulous Acacia, while the Lanceolate Honey Eater, thus named on account of the shape of its feathers, slings its hammock just as a seaman slings his oscillating couch. [Illustration: PTILOTUS SONORUS. SERICORNIS CITREOGULARIS. ENTOMOPHILA PICTA. ENTOMOPHILA ALBOGULARIS. ORIGMA RUBRICATA.]