26 NESTS AND EGGS OF N. A. BIRDS. 



was 'composed of straws and twigs mixed with feathers, firmly 

 interwoven,' lined with grass and hair; the cavity was a little less 

 than two inches wide, and about as deep. *The eggs were 0.70 

 by 0,52 inch in size, and pale greenish-blue' in color." — COUES, 

 Birds of the Colorado Valley, pp.109, iio- 



FAMILY Paridae.— Titmice; Chickadees. 



36. lophophanes bicolor. 

 TUFTED TITMOUSE. 



"In respect of latitudinal distribution the Tufted Titmouse 

 offers much the same case as the Blue-gray Gnat-catcher — both 

 birds appear to be characteristic of a certain faunal area, beyond 

 which they rarely, if ever, pass. Its northern limit appears to be 

 the Connecticut Valley, for Audubon's Nova Scotian record re- 

 quires confirmation. The species belongs distinctively to the 

 Eastern Province, reaching only to the Lower Missouri, Eastern 

 Kansas and Nebraska. Mr. Allen says that it was "one of the 

 most numerously represented and most noisy species met with at 

 Leavenworth." Though so restricted in its northward range, it is 

 a hardy bird, not migratory, remaining in abundance in the mid- 

 dle di .iricts throughout the year. It shares the restless, noisy, 

 and inquisitive characters of the family to which it belongs. The 

 eggs, of the usual shape in this group, are five or six in number, 

 deposited in various holes and crannies ; they measure about .70 

 by ,55 inches, are white, and thickly and pretty evenly sprinkled 

 with minute dots of reddish-brown." — CouES, Birds of the 

 Northwest, p. 19. 



37. lophophanes atrocristatus. 

 BLACK-CRESTED TITMOUSE. 



"A common resident in Comal County. t Mr. Wermer examin- 

 ed several nests, all of which were placed in natural cavities of 

 hollow limbs. In every instance pieces of snake-skins or their 

 separate scales were included among the other material composing 

 the nest. Mr. Sennett, in his description of a nest obtained at 

 Lomita Ranche, in Southern Texas, mentioned the same peculiar- 



t William Bkbwstbb, on certain rare birds in TexM.— Bull. Nutt. Cm. Club, April, 1879, 

 pp. 76, 77. 



