56 NESTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS. 



36. THE LEAD-COLORED BUSH TITMOUSE. 

 PSALTRIPARUS PLUMBEUS Batrd. 



An inhabitant (jf the Rocky ?)ioi(ntaln regioir^ as far east as 

 th? foot-hills of eastern Colorado, north to Green river, Wyo- 

 min<^, northwest to southeastern Oregon. The nest and eo^<^s are 

 mulcscribed. but probably are niuch like those of /*. Diiniiiius 

 and \\VA\ be looked for among the pihons and cedars on the 

 mountains. Perhaps this species will tiun out to be only a va- 

 riety t)f the preceding. 



37. THE VBRDIN. 



AURIPARUS FLAVICEPS (^Sund.-) Bd. 



Yellow-Headed Titmouse. 



The less elevated portions of the Colorado valley. New 

 Mexico, and the Rio Grande, are the home of this pleasant little 

 bird. Dr. Ileerman found it breeding abundantly at Fort 

 Vuma. Mr. Xantus in Lower California, Dr. Cooper in the 

 ]\loha\ c \ alley, and vSennett and Merrill at the mouth of the 

 Rio Grande. The former writers all agreed in finding the 

 spherical, twig-and-grass-built nest not far from the ground, 

 suspended among the outer branches of thorn-bushes, and hav- 

 ing the very small entrance on the under side. The mass of 

 the nest sometimes is as large as a man's head, and very rough 

 exteriorU'. but lined with down and feathers. 



Mr. George B. Sennett's experience at Hidalgo, Texas, is 

 very instructive, and deserves to be quoted at length from his 

 interesting paper in the Bulletin of the United States Geologi- 

 cal vSm-yey, Volume IV, Number i. 



My first knowledge of the existence of tliis bird in the vicinity was 

 tlie finding of a new nest on April 28. [1S77] ! ^^^ '^ contained no eggs, 

 and was not recognized at the time. The next day I went to the nest, 

 foumi one egg in it, and saw both parents. While the female was dart- 

 ing in and out of the thicket, evidently alarmed at my close proximity 

 to her treasure, the male was flitting from tree to tree, on the topmost 



