NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 49l 



Mr. George B. Sennett describes a nest of this species as being pensile, purse-like 

 composed of mosses, flower stems and lichens, having a lining of feathers. Eggs pure 

 white. Breeds in pineries of high altitudes. An egg in the collection of Mr Sen- 

 nett measures .58 inches in length by .42 in breadth. The nest with this egg wag 

 taken in Limpia, Cameron county, June 21, 1887, at an altitude of 6200 feet. It was 

 fastened to twigs of a cedar seven feet from the ground. The tree was twenty-five 

 feet in height, situated on a divide between two ravines. 



746. VEBDIN. Auriparus flaviceps (Sund.) Geog. Dist. Northern regions 

 of Mexico and contiguous portions of the United States, from Southern Texps to 

 Arizona and Lower California. 



The little Yellow-headed Bush-Tit or Verdin is a common bird in suitable lo- 

 calities throughout the arid regions of Northern Mexico, the southern portions of 

 Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and in Lower California. It is smaller than the largest 

 North American Hummingbird, Euyencs fulycns, which inhabits Southern Arizona 

 and southward. This species measures about 5.00 in length, while the length of tho 

 Verdin varies from 4.00 to 4.60 inches. Notwithstanding the diminutive size of the 

 bird, it builds a remarkable structure for a nest large, and bulky, and a marvel of 

 bird architecture. It is comparatively easy to find, being built near the ends of the 

 branches of some low, thorny tree or shrub in the numerous* varieties of cacti and 

 thorny bushes which grow in the regions of its home. The nest is globular, flask- 

 shape in form, the outside being one mass of thorny twigs and stems interwoven, 

 while the middle is composed of flower stems and the lining of feathers. The en- 

 trance is a small circular opening. Mr. Sennett took a number of the birds, nests 

 and eggs at Lomita, on the Lower Rio Grande. Dr. Merrill did not observe this 

 species in the immediate vicinity of Fort Brown, Texas, but it was rather common 

 at Edinburgh in April and May, frequenting mostly amargosa chapparal. Mr. H. P. 

 Atwater found it a resident and quite common at San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, 

 where a number of skins, nests and eggs were taken in 1884; the first nest was 

 found March 31, and contained four fresh eggs. Mr. Atwater says that the birds 

 occupy the nest during the winter months, and the inside is made much warmer 

 by the addition of feathers. The birds are generally found nesting in the high, dry 

 parts of the country, away from tall timber, where the thorns are the thickest. 

 From three to six eggs are deposited, of a bluish or greenish-white or pale blue, 

 speckled, chiefly round the larger end, with reddish-brown. Their average size is 

 .59x.43 inches. 



747. KENNICOTT'S WILLOW WABBLEB. Phyllopseustes borealis (Bias.) 

 Geog. Dist. Northeastern Asia and Alaska. 



The first American record of the capture of this bird was a single specimen 

 taken at St. Michael's, Alaska, August 16, 1866, and later another was taken. Dur- 

 ing the summer of 1877, in July, Nelson secured two specimens at St. Michael's, and 

 others have been taken since. The bird is known to be a great wanderer, migrating 

 through Japan, China and Formosa, and reaching the Malayan Peninsula and Archi- 

 pelago. In summer it seeks the high latitudes of Asia, to northern Russia, and 

 thence even to Alaska. We must depend upon those who have visited its haunts 

 in Northern Europe and Asia for an account of its nesting and eggs. Seebohm's ac- 

 count (Ibis, Vol. Ill, p. 9, 1879), is as follows: ""When I left the Arctic Circle it had 

 probably not commenced to breed; but on the 6th of July I had the good fortune to 

 shoot a bird from its nest at Egaska, in latitude 67. The eggs are larger than those 



