EASTERN VERDIN 429 



that have been pubh'shed, I have selected Herbert Brandt's (1940) as 

 best worth quoting: 



This structure is a globular or oval interlacement of thorned twigs that may 

 measure up to eight inches in outside diameter, although usually its axis is 

 shorter in one direction than the other. The thorny sticks are so placed that on 

 the bristling exterior their free ends project upward, quill-like, and protect the 

 nest. Each twiglet measures from two to five inches, and the free end may pro- 

 trude an inch or more, in orderly fashion, so at first glance the twig ends give 

 the appearance of a strange little hedgehog sitting in a convenient crotch with 

 quills ever ready. 



The number of twigs employed in this abode depends largely on its size and 

 varies from a few hundred to more than two thousand ; in fact I have a nest, 

 collected in Arizona, that by careful estimate has over two thousand twigs! Thus 

 the amount of labor required to interweave and lodge each individual freshly 

 broken twiglet is indeed prodigious and is perhaps unequalled in the nest-building 

 of our small birds. * ♦ ♦ 



One of the most interesting features of the Verdin's dwelling is its strength; 

 so strongly is it built that it is really difficult to tear one apart, and even then it 

 is necessary to wear heavy gloves because the multitude of thorns will effectively 

 repel one's bare hands. The nest is so woven around the tough branching limbs 

 that to remove it intact is impossible without cutting off the support: in conse- 

 quence the winds of the sandstorms cannot harm it or its feathered tenants. In 

 fact, this is the most perfectly defended and anchored fortress that any desert 

 bird has devised, and the reason so many are seen is because they endure year 

 after year in various disrepair despite the angry elements that sweep across the 

 sandy plains, often for months on end. 



These nests are found as low as two feet from the ground and up to a height 

 of nearly twenty feet, yet they are usually placed in the lower half of the tree 

 In which they are built, or in the upper part of bushes, but always well out 

 toward the end of a branch. Here the structure is woven about a pronged fork, 

 with its entrance almost invariably opening outward and downward. The stick 

 quills usually bristle backward away from this threshold, pointing along the 

 limb, and act as a barbed repellent to any crawling invader trying to reach it 

 from behind. It is through this small hidden orifice, itself well thorned, that the 

 bird enters, and when it does it must pass over a raised threshold that is built 

 up so high that one can scarcely touch the contents of the interior without pressing 

 down the elevated doorstep. The whole fortified little stronghold seems designed 

 to keep safe its semi-concealed entrance. 



After suggesting that the male probably builds several nests, among 

 which his mate may select her choice, he continues : 



Once she has decided on her apartment she proceeds to line it snugly. The 

 first step is to cover the many rough, protruding rafter ends with a padding 

 of leaves and grass fibers, and finally to line cozily the whole cavity with an 

 abundance of feathers, large and small. This room, before the feather finish, 

 measures up to four inches across and between two and three inches high, but 

 after the lining is placed, loose feathers more or less fill the entire chamber. 

 Then the walls are smooth and silky to the touch, and so carefully padded that 

 seldom does a thorn jab through. In one instance I found the nest of a Verdin 



