2l6 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



doorway, there was a sort of a hall down to the 

 main living-room. This was warmly lined with 

 feathers. To make a soft feather lining re- 

 quired a good deal of hunting. The feather lin- 

 ing was not really completed till after the eggs 

 were laid. Whenever one of the Bush-Tits would 

 come upon a feather, he would pick it up and 

 bring it home. The Bush-Tits reminded me of 

 some ].)eople who build a house, but are not able 

 to furnish it throughout, so they pick up the 

 furnishings later on from time to time. 



In some parts of Oregon where moss hangs in 

 long bunches from the limbs, the Bush-Tit uses 

 this natural beginning for a nest. I saw one of 

 these birds build its home by getting inside of a 

 long piece of moss and weave this into the wall 

 of the nest. At another time, I saw a Bush-Tit's 

 nest twentv inches long. The little weavers had 

 started their home on a limb and it was evidently 

 not low enough to suit them, for they made a 

 fiber strap ten inches long and then swung their 



gourd-shai)ed nest to that, letting the nest hang 

 in a bvmch of willow leaves. 



I never had had a good idea of the amount of 

 insect food a Bush-Tit consumed until I watched 

 a pair of these birds a few days after the eggs 

 were hatched. Both birds fed in turn and the 

 turns averaged from five to ten minutes apart. 

 The parents were busy from dawn till dark. 

 They searched the leaves and twigs, branches, 

 and trunks of every tree. They hunted through 

 the bushes, grasses, and ferns. They brought 

 caterpillars, moths, daddy-long-legs, spiders, 

 plant lice, and many other kinds of insects. One 

 pair of Bush-Tits about a locality means the 

 destruction of a great many harmful insects. If 

 we could but estimate the amount of insects de- 

 stroyed by all the birds about any one locality, 

 we should find it enormous. Without the help 

 of these assistant gardeners, the bushes and trees 

 would soon be leafless. 



William L. Finley. 



VERDIN 

 Auriparus flaviceps flaviceps (Stinde7-al!) 



A. O. U. Number 746 



Other Names.— Gold-Tit; Yellow-headed Bush-Tit. 



General Description. — Length, 4'S inches. Head, 

 yellow ; upper parts, brownish-gray ; under parts, pale 

 brownish-gray and white. Bill, much shorter than 

 head, conical, and tip acute; wings, long and rounded; 

 tail, nearly as long as wing, rounded. 



Color. — Adults : Head, dull .gamboge or wax- 

 yellow, clearer yellow on cheeks, chin, and throat 

 (where the yellow sometimes extends over upper chest), 

 more olivaceous on crown and back of head, the back 

 portion of forehead sometimes tinged with orange- 

 rufous (rarely with a distinct though partially concealed 



Drawing by R. I Brasher 



VERDIN (nat. size1 



A tiny fellow who has learned to use his own roof for protection 

 during the winter season 



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