THE OOLOGIST. 



227 



own close to that on which the female 

 is sittinor, and thus amuses himself 

 while waiting for the young to hatch. 

 Generallj- he seems dissatistied with it 

 and pulls it to pieces many times befoi-e 

 he gets it to his liking. I have noticej.1 

 this habit only with the Wrens over the 

 porch and in the outhouse, not having 

 had opportunities for observing others. 



The food of this Wren is mostly of 

 grubs found in wood, and cater})ilhu's, 

 which it gathers with great dexterity. 



After the young are able to fly, they 

 follow their parents on a tour around 

 the neighl)oring fences, the old ones 

 feeding them all the while, like a familj' 

 of Vireos. 



The Bewick'^s Wren lays from four to 

 seven eggs, very similar to those of the 

 Carolina Wren except in point of size, 

 the average size of the Bewick's Wren 

 being about .64x.51, the Cai'olina, as be- 

 fore stated about .73x.60. 



The eggs ai"e white spotted with red- 

 dish brown, forming a thin wreath at 

 the larger end. In comparing the two 

 birds we .see a great manj' points of sim- 

 ilai-itj-, the long curved bill, the bluish 

 line over the eye and the long, barred 

 tail being common to both species. 



The song of the Bewick's Wren cer- 

 tainly deserves attention. He is a cheer- 

 ful songster, and in mj' opinion is fully 

 the equal of his much vaunted brother, 

 the Carolina Wren. He sings the whole 

 day long in the nesting season, and 

 every time he brings a worm to his pa- 

 tient mate, h(! flies to a branch of the 

 nearest tree, and pours forth a song of 

 gladness and rejoicing. 



"TlIRYOTIIOUUS." 



H. B. B. 



Christian Co., Ky. 



The Califoroian Bush-Tit. 



Paaltriparus minimus calif orniru^. 



Along toward^ the end of our chi ek- 

 ing lists we come to a numljcr 74:ia, the 



Californian Bush or Least Tit. During 

 the past season I have found, in them, 

 a very interesting study, often watching 

 them for hours as they busied themselves 

 in the construction of their homes. Beau- 

 tiful homes they are too. Hanging from 

 the extremity of some swaying live-oak 

 branch, rocked by the breeze, and se- 

 cure from depredation, the home of the 

 Bush-Tit is indeed one to be proud of. 

 Ami fully conscious is the owner of its 

 value, for he ahvaj's, very indiscreetly 

 chirps and chatters and makes a great 

 fuss as soon as you approach the tree 

 which contains his nest. 



The nest is generally situated in a live- 

 oak tree near water, althougli I have 

 found nests ill gum, pepper and popular 

 trees at soui'' distance from the creek. 

 One day in March I took a walk along a 

 creek with a friend and we found about 

 a dozen nests in three or four hours. 

 Two were in eucalyptus trees and the 

 rest of them were in live oaks and the 

 most of them contained seven fresh eggs, 

 though one or two sets of six were taken 

 and several nests found with but one 

 egg in. 



The birds are pretty well distributed 

 over the state and remain with us near- 

 ly all the season. Quite frequently they 

 lay two sets in a season or even more 

 when circumstances compel them to. 

 One nest that came under my obser- 

 vation was built in the last of February 

 in a pepper tree right over the sidewalk 

 and a set of six eggs were taken from it. 

 Immediately afterwards the foolish 

 birds commenced Jthe construction of 

 another nest in the tree next to the one 

 in wliich the first hail been. I thought 

 I would leave them rear their young in 

 peace this time, l)iit some one else 

 thought dilferently and the second nest 

 went the way of the lirst. 



The little fellows did not seem at all 

 discouraged at this however but inirae- 

 dialely rei)aired to a ])oplai' tree aljout 

 20 yards distant and soon hatl tin; third 

 nest complettnl and six eggs laid and 



