Whereas the little spiderhunter is almost invariably a bird to be sighted, the tailorbird is exclusively for hearing.
The rules for the ubiquitous jiriot (tailorbird) omens are complex and detailed in a very high degree.
Types of double tailorbird ranggong where left comes before right follow more or less a diametrically opposite pattern of rules, to the extent that your opponent--still under the auspices of the left-side sign--has to be countered from the right by a sign which foreshadows your own potential, whatever it may be, in the encounter to come.
For further detail of the rules for overlapping omens, see under jiriot (tailorbird) in Appendix I.
(35) We are aware that this assertion flies in the face of some Dusun intellectual proclivity in the construction of their tribal past (see Bantong 1985:109), comprising a grid which in the "Pursuit" section of six columns allocates column 5 to "war, etc." Admittedly, Bantong does not in his article refer explicitly to "headhunting," but the martial quality of his ancestors, even contemporaries, is more than implicit where, for instance, the tailorbird is said to be informing Dusuns that "one may go to war with confidence" if it calls from front left, on a low pitch (Bantong 1985:106).
These may elsewhere be confined to mangrove, but in Borneo they are found in other habitats as well (Purple Heron Ardea purpurea, Ashy Tailorbird Orthotomus ruficeps, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird O.
Black-Browed Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flaviventris Dark-necked Tailorbird Orthotomus atrogularis Rufous-tailed Tailorbird Orthotomus sericeus Ashy Tailorbird Orthotomus ruficeps Arctic Leaf-warbler Phylloscopus borealis Grey-chested Rhinomyias Rhinomyias umbratilis ?
Birders used to be rewarded with sightings of the wonderful creatures that made their home in Bislig-blue fantails, writhed hornbills, rufous-fronted
tailorbirds, brown tit-babblers and leafbirds.
