442 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



that tone of color prettily offset by a circle of light buff plant down 

 around the entrance. 



According to Mrs. Addicott (1938) the time devoted to nest-building 

 varies greatly and is subject to some interruption on account of bad 

 weather or other disturbance. Nests started in February were actually 

 worked on for 51 and 49 days in two cases, and for from 42 to 34 days 

 in three other cases. 



A nest started in April was completed in 13 days. "Second nests are 

 built more quickly than first nests. Pairs disturbed during building, egg- 

 laying or incubation frequently desert and build second nests, usually 

 with new mates. * * * When one bird deserts a nest another mate is 

 found to take its place. If both desert, they separate and seek new 

 mates. * ♦ * it might be suggested that the gregarious habits of the 

 species during the rest of the year and the constant presence of unmated 

 birds in small flocks during the nesting season are of significance here." 



Leslie L. Haskin tells me that "after the nest is completed the birds 

 seem to leave it for a time before actual occupancy begins. One nest 

 that I observed closely was thus left unused for nearly thirty days, 

 after which eggs were laid, and a thrifty brood brought forth. I am 

 inclined to believe that during this time the parents use the nest for 

 a nightly roost. I do know that, after the eggs are laid, both tlie male 

 and female bird spend the night in the nest, a very cozy and comfortable 

 bedroom. The same pair of birds appears to return to the same site, 

 or one near by, year after year. When an occupied nest is found, it is 

 not at all uncommon to find last year's nest cjose by. On one occasion 

 I found a nest containing young, built upon a horizontal fir limb about 12 

 feet from the ground. At intervals of about 2 feet apart along the same 

 limb, three other nests, or rather their remains, left from previous years, 

 were hung, each one a little older and more bedraggled than the pre- 

 ceding one. It was evident that for at least four years this branch had 

 been used by the same pair of birds." 



W. E. Griffee writes to me of a nest that was used for three sets 

 of eggs in one season : "The only occupied nest I have found in recent 

 years was one which, on May 26, 1935, held young 4 or 5 days old. 

 After this brood had flown, I took a set of 6 eggs, incubated 2 to 4 days, 

 from the same nest on June 19th. As the nest was soiled with excre- 

 ment from the first brood, I did not collect it, so the birds completed 

 a third set of 6 eggs in it on about July 3rd or 4th." This was near 

 Portland, Oreg., where he thinks bushtits are not so common as they 

 were 30 years ago. From this and other reports, it seems that the bush- 

 tits often raise two broods in a season. 



Carroll Dewilton Scott tells, in the notes sent to me, of the difficulties 



