Baas THE BUSH-TIT. 
it out more daintily. This, by the way, is no fanciful comparison, for there 
is a strong strain of Wren blood in Bush-Tit’s veins. 
Nest-building begins on Puget Sound about the middle of March, at a 
time when the shrubbery is only beginning to leaf. Early nests, like the one 
in our illustration, may be perfectly exposed. Indeed, the birds appear to be 
at no pains to effect concealment, but trust to the general protection afforded 
by the presence of other such masses, the withered panicles of ‘‘ocean spray” 
or spireea, drooping mosses, and collections of unfallen leaves, in the draperies 
of the underforest. The pendant pouch is composed chiefly of moss made 
fast by vegetable fibres and cob-webs, and snugly felted with vegetable downs. 
The lining is composed sometimes exclusively of white felt, but oftener of 
plant-down mingled with wool, fur, or feathers. 
Egg-laying may begin as soon as the nest is decently framed, or again, it 
may be deferred for a week or ten days after the structure is practically com- 
pilte exes yates 
however that 
may be, the 
birds never rest 
from their la- 
bors. A Bush- 
it’s “nest sis 
like the James- 
to want cece 
never finished. 
The nest must 
be ornamented 
with lichens, 
Taken m 
Oregon. 
Photo by petals, spider- 
Bohlman and Finley. . 
aoe egg cases, bits 
Ol petissiemmpds 
per,—in short, whatever takes the fancy of the birds in the course of their 
restless forays. The interior furnishings, likewise, must be continually aug- 
mented. If the bottom of the nest was only an inch thick at the outset, it is 
built up from within until it attains a thickness of two or three inches. Even 
tho the eggs be near to hatching, the thrifty housewife, as she returns from 
an airing, must needs lug in a beakful of feathers, which it would have been 
a shame to waste, you know. Besides this, the male bird has two or three 
shanties under construction in the neighborhood, upon which he can profit- 
ably put in those tedious hours between three a. m. and sunset. 
The mother Tit lays six or eight pearly white eggs, and these the Steller 
Jay counts quite the daintiest item on his bill of fare. Hence, of all the 
Bush-Tits’ nests one sees in a season, fully half have been slit open and 
