TITMICE 



217 



spot ot this color); hindiieck, back, shoulders, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts, plain brownish-gray (between 

 smoke-gray and hair-brown), the rump usually tinged 

 with yellowish olive; wings and tail, decidedly darker 

 with pale brownish-gray or grayish-brown edgings, the 

 lesser wing-coverts, uniform bright reddish-chestnut or 

 bay; under parts of body, pale brownish-gray, becoming 

 nearly white on lower abdomen and under tail-coverts. 

 Young : Essentially similar to adults, but without 

 yellow on head or chestnut on lesser wing-coverts, 

 which are of the same color with the back. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: .A.t end of branch of thorny 



One day. while we were passing a little s:;;"!'}' 

 west of Tucson, .\rizona, I saw what looked to 

 be a small btmch of grass or roots caught on the 

 bare limb of a cat's-claw. It looked like a piece 



trees or bushes, in brushy valleys of high dry country 

 away from timber and among the desert thickets ; a 

 remarkable large retort-shaped structure with small 

 round entrance on one side, composed exteriorly of 

 thorny twigs and leaf and flower stems, closely inter- 

 woven, and lined with feathers. Eggs ; 3 to 6, bluisli 

 or greenish white, speckled with reddisli-brown, heavi- 

 est at large end. 



Distribution. — Southern Te.xas, New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, and 

 southern California, northern Lower California, and 

 Mexico. 



creosote, and cat's-claw. The best a Yerdin 

 can do for self-protection is to make her home 

 look like a little bundle of drift, roof the house 

 with thorns and make the doorway on the under 



.>CW: 



I'hoto by \\ . L. Fii 



VERDIN, NEST, AND YOUNG 

 I hung out on a plain bare branch with 1 



L leaf to hide it 



of drift caught by the high water. Out of 

 curiosity. I went cl(jser and found a small round 

 hole in the side. In a few minutes, here came 

 a tiny olive-gray bird, yellow on the neck and 

 head and a chestnut patch on the shoulder. He 

 was about the size of a Chickadee and I could 

 tell he was a cousin of the Chickadee by his ac- 

 tions. This was our introduction to the Verdin. 

 I was not accustomed to seeing a nest hung 

 out on a plain bare branch with not a leaf to hide 

 it. When I looked about, I saw that the Verdin 

 didn't have much choice for a nest-site, for there 

 was nothing for a mile around except cactus. 



side. 1 had to look all around before I discovered 

 this doorway. 



This bird, which I took to be the female, had 

 a morsel in her bill. She hopped into the house 

 and was out again and off on the hunt, paying 

 no attention to us. We sat down about fifteen 

 feet away. In a few moments, the male Verdin 

 came headlong with a mouthful of green measur- 

 ing-worms. He brought up with a surprised 

 jerk and fidgeted as if lie didn't know just what 

 to do. He was evidently saying to himself, 

 "Who are they? What do they want?" He 

 came to the conclusion he would fool us, so he 



