298 | LAND BIRDS 
Mrs. Bailey accuses this bird of breaking up the nest 
of a pair of gnatcatchers and one of lazuli buntings, al- 
though both parents were present. It is probably the 
habit of Wren-tits to steal eggs or nestlings ; for, wherever 
found, they seem to be a terror to smaller birds, and 
their approach is attended with as much consternation 
as that of a shrike. 
743 a. CALIFORNIAN BUSH-TIT.— Psaltriparus 
minimus californicus. 
Famity: The Nuthatches and Tits. 
Length: 4.00-4.50. 
Adults: Top of head light brown; upper parts ashy gray ; under parts 
dull brownish gray. 
Geographical Distribution: California, except northern coast district. 
California Breeding Range: Oak regions below Boreal zone, west of the 
Sierra Nevada. 
Breeding Season: April and May. 
Nest: Bulky; pensile; gourd-shaped ; entrance a small hole near the 
top; made of moss, fibre, plant down, oak blossoms, and lichens ; 
lined with feathers. 
Eggs: 5 to 9; plain white. Size 0.34 x 0.42. 
THROUGHOUT California west of the Sierra Nevada, 
the tiny gray birds known as Bush-tits are numerous, 
though so small are they and so protectively colored, 
one may easily overlook them. At Elysian Park, Los 
Angeles, they build each year in the circle of evergreens 
near the pool, and usually there are several nests in the 
live-oak at the foot of the slope near by. One busy 
pair were finishing their nest when I discovered them, 
May 2. They were belated, for in the next tree swung 
