The Tailorbird is one of the most ingenious of all nest-builders. This tiny bird uses spiders' silk and plant fibres to create a cup by sewing together the edges of one or more living leaves. Holding a length of thread in its pointed bill, it pierces a hole in the leaf, and pushes the thread through, tying a knot at the end on the outside. It then does the same on the other side so that the two leaf surfaces are secured together. Each stitch is made separately and the threaded leaves form a receptacle, which is lined with fine grasses, down and hairs to complete the nest.
Richter's illustration of the nest was copied from a drawing made in China, and the birds were drawn from Chinese specimens. Gould quoted from an account by Robert Swinhoe of the Tailorbird's nest. 'The most diminuitive of all birds is the little Tailorbird (Orthotomus), remarkable for its long, pointed bill, which serves as a needle in sewing leaves together round its nest... The prettiest construction of the kind I have seen was a nest flanked in by three orange-leaves, and placed at the extremity of a bough of an orange-tree.'
The birds and nest are depicted lifesize.
R. Swinhoe, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1871, p.351
DISTRIBUTION : Southern China: Kwangsi, Hunan, Kwangtung, Fukien and Hainan