VOL. I.] Nest of the California Btish Tit. 151 



The holly-leaved wild plum (P. ilicifolia) seems never to be 

 affected by either of these pests, and a like immunity appears to 

 belong to the small *' bitter cherry" of the Sierra Nevada. The 

 Botany of California, by the way, says this (P. ematginata) has 

 black fruit. I would be pleased to have notes on the subject. 



A NEST OF THE CALIFORNIA BUSH TIT 



( Psaltripartis minimus calif orriicus.) 



J- 



BY CHAS. A. KEELER. 



There Is no bird on the Pacific Coast that builds a more elaborate 

 nest than the California bush tit. In proportion to the size of the bird 

 it is truly an immense structure, and it is made of such fine materials 

 that the labor of constructing it is very great. A nest which I col- 

 lected near Berkeley in the spring of 1889 seems worthy of special 

 notice. It was found in an oak ( Quercus agri/o/iaj M the height 

 of about fifteen feet from the ground, and shielded from sight by a 

 beautiful streamer of lichen which half covered it. In size it is a little 

 above the average, its external length being about two hundred 

 millimetres. The lower half of the structure Is solid, thus making 

 the internal length only about ninety-five millimetres. The nest is 

 composed, as usual, of fine particles of moss, lichens, and very mi- 

 nute twigs, bound together with spider webs, and is lined with soft 

 feathers and willow catkins. In shape it presents no striking pecu- 

 liarities, it being, as usual, a long, pendulous, slightly gourd-shaped 



structure, with a hole near the top barely large enough to insert a 

 finger. . The novel feature of the structure is an appendage almost 

 large enough to be considered a second nest attached to the main 

 one around the entrance. It forms a large vestibule at the door- 

 way, with a considerable mass of nesting material at its extremity, 

 hanging beside the main nest in an apparently useless flap. 



I have examined many nests of this species, but never saw^ any 

 other with this sort of an attachment. From the care with which it 

 was constructed it is evident that it is not an accidental excresence, 

 but rather a deliberate deviation from, or an improvement on, the 

 typical structure. Mr. L. Belding, who has seen the nest, suggests 

 that it might have been intended as the roosting place of the male, 

 and this seems to be the most natural explanation. The fact that 

 this pocket has a partial lining would seem to confirm this theory. 



