THE OOLOGIST. 



213 



and in the thunder of the waves. He 

 holds communion with Nature on his 

 rambles and is thus led nearer his God. 

 His mind is elevated and enriched. His 

 soul is uplifted and tilled with rever- 

 ence and praise for Him who created 

 this beautiful world and filled it \vith 

 wonders which most of us know but 

 little, perhaps not at all. Whoever 

 studies Nature with such feelings de- 

 rives much good therefrom, and his 

 life is enobled. 



Reader, if this little article causes a 

 change in your opinion of some"crank" 

 (?) and opens up some empty corner of 

 your heart to the warm glow of Nature, 

 tHen its mission will have been success- 

 ful. "Ortyx." 



The Wren-Tit or Ground Tit- 



This is one of the characteristic birds 

 of California, combining the traits of 

 the Wrens as well as those of the Tit- 

 mice. These birds inhabit the foothills, 

 canons and dry bushy plains all over 

 southern California. 



The Wren-Tit is one of the many 

 birds that stay all the year round in 

 southern and Lower California. The 

 Wren-Tit's whistle can be heai'd all 

 day long in the thick brush on the hill- 

 sides and in the washes, its music is 

 generally confined to the low monoto- 

 nous whistle which is prolongedly a 

 trill, except when it is disturbed, then 

 it will scold the intruder with itsjcat- 

 like cries. These birds can always be 

 identified by their whistle, after a per- 

 son has once heard them. 



The Wren-Tit is confined to the 

 coast region of California, with the ex- 

 ception of those found in Lower Cali- 

 fornia. The nest is usually built in the 

 thick gi'ease wood, in canons on the 

 hillsides. It is composed of little twigs 

 and soft woody fibres, and is lined with 

 grass and hair. It is made so that it 

 looks like an old nest. 



The birds set so closely and look so 



much like the nest that the whole looks 

 like an old bunch of sticks or a last 

 year's nest. The inside of the nest is 

 from two to two and a half inches in 

 depth by two and a half in width. The 

 nest is placed in the fork of some bush 

 and is generally about three feet from 

 the ground. 



Although the birds are quite numer- 

 ous in Southern California, the nests 

 and eggs are quite difficult to find. 



The birds are quite Wren-like in ap- 

 pearance, and have a habit of holding 

 the tail erect and twitching it neiwously 

 from side to side. The birds resemble 

 the California Brown Towhee in color. 

 They are a plain brown above, the tail 

 is long and has faint dark bars on it. 

 Beneath it is pale cinnamon with throat 

 and chest faintly streaked with dark. 

 The.v are about six and a half inches 

 long. 



When the bird is on the nest it is 

 quite tame and will let you come with- 

 in a few feet of it, and then it will 

 slip off the nest so quietly that you can 

 hardly catch a glimpse of it. When 

 the bird leaves the nest it will run 

 along the ground under the bushes for 

 a few yai'ds and then suddenly appear 

 with its mate and begin to scold you 

 from a short distance, with a series of 

 scolding ci'ies. If you move on for a 

 few yards the birds will follow to see if 

 you are going away, then the female will 

 slip back to watcli the nest. If you re- 

 turn, the birds will become bolder than 

 they were at first. 



The eggs are of a pale greenish olue 

 color without spots or other markings. 

 The eggs will fade if left in the light. 

 The average measurement of the eggs 

 is about .70 by .53 inches. The usual 

 number of eggs that I have found in a 

 set is three, although I have found two 

 tine sets of five. 



The breeding season is from the mid- 

 dle of April until the last of June. 



W. B. JUDSON. 



