462 NUTHATCHES AND TITS 



744. Psaltriparus plumbeus Baird. Lead-colored Bush-Tit. 



Upper parts plain bluish gray ; sides of head brown ; under parts grayish 

 white, faintly tinged with pale brownish on belly. Length: 4.12-4.00, 

 wing 2.00-2.1.5, tail 2.85-2.50. 



Distribution. — Upper Sonoran and Transition zones from eastern Oregon 

 and western Wyoming to Arizona, and from western Texas to California. 



Nest. — In Chisos Mountains, Texas, 1 2 to 15 feet from ground, in a 

 nut pine, a greenish gray bag (J or 8 inches long, made of lichens, oak 

 flowers, and catkins, woven with cocoon silk. Ji^ggs : 4, white. 



When we were working in the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas and 

 New Mexico, while the ant-eating woodpecker was calling and band- 

 tailed pigeons were flying noisily to water, our attention would often 

 be attracted by small voices in the brush, and presently a large flock 

 of the tiny lead-colored bush-tits would swarm in and pass from 

 juniper to juniper and pinon to pinon through camp, disappearing 

 as they came, full of small talk and business. 



744.1. Psaltriparus santaritse Bidgw. Santa Rita Bush-Tit. 



Similar to plumbeus, but smaller, sides of head paler brown, and with a 

 more or less distinct blackish line along sides of occiput. 



Distribution. — Santa Rita Mountains, southern Arizona. 



745. Psaltriparus Uoydi Senn. Lloyd Bush-Tit. 



Upper parts gray ; sides of head and partial collar around back of head 

 black; under parts grayish, faintly washed with 

 pale brownish. 



Distribution. — Mountains of western Texas, 

 between the Pecos and Rio Grande rivers; south 

 Fig. 587. ^Q northern Mexico. 



GENUS AURIPARUS. 



746. Auriparus flavieeps (Sund.). Verdin. 



Bill nearly straight ; plumage compact ; wings pointed, decidedly longer 

 than tail. Adult male : head, neck, and chest bright yellow ; olive on 

 crown and sometimes orange on forehead ; shoulder patch reddish chest- 

 nut ; rest of upper parts gray ; under parts whitish. Adult female : sim- 

 ilar, but yellow restricted and duller. Young : without yellow or reddish 

 brown, and gray of upper parts tinged with brown. Length : 4.00-4.60, wing 

 1.90-2.12, tail L7.5-2.05. 



Distribution. — Resident in Lower Sonoran zone from southern Texas to 

 the Pacific and from southern Utah and Nevada to Mexico and northern 

 Lower California. 



Nest. — Bulky, globular, flask or retort-shaped, the entrance a small 

 round hole on one side ; composed of sticks, thorny twigs, and coarse grass 

 stems, lined with feathers and down ; placed in thorny bushes or low trees. 

 Eggs : 3 to 0, bluish or greenish white, speckled, chiefly around larger 

 end, with reddish brown. 



The verdin lives in the lower mesqiiite valleys along the Rio Grande 

 and the Colorado, the Gila and the Pecos rivers, seeming to prefer 

 brushy valleys to open desert. It is an active little body, bobbing 



