The California Bush-Tit 



Margaret Sherman 



If you are looking for, and are the least bit interested in the wit, 

 industriousness, sociability and usefulness of a small creature, 

 you will surely find your ideal in the little gray Bush-Tit. 



He is the smallest of all our birds, save the humming bird, and 

 is familiar and abundant on all the Western Coast. The gray 

 midgets may be seen anywhere in the woods, during the winter, 

 busy all day long in their quest for food. Their little twittering 

 song may be heard high and low, far and near. They keep up 

 their tiny snatches of gossip, whether in pairs or flocks. In 

 winter they are found in groups of a dozen or so, which looks as 

 though they were having a house party, but not so, for these are 

 their own immediate family, as they are very enterprising little 

 neighbors and often nest three times during the spring with five 

 to eight children in each brood. They believe in keeping the 

 family together too, as the ancient Greeks did. 



The father and mother begin to think of family affairs by Janu- 

 ary and February and start to hunt diligently for the home site 

 before the frost has left the ground. These tiny creatures build 

 the largest nest among the birds, compared with the size of the 

 builder. After they have been weather-worn, some of their 

 nests measure 12 to 14 inches in length. They may select as 

 nesting site either the top of a high tree or low bush where the 

 wind may rock the cradle or where it is hidden from view. No 

 matter where the nests are built, they are always hung like a 

 pocket. The nests all look alike. They are of a drab, gray or 

 white, depending upon the location of the nest, and are composed 

 of mosses, oak catkins, bits of dried weed fiber, threads of plants, 

 sycamore leaf wool, and other soft bits . 



The bush-tit's beak is very small and pointed and it has to cany- 

 small loads, therefore the nest is composed of small pieces, making 

 a felt which is not easily torn or broken. The soft silk of the milk- 

 weed and thistle down are hidden away in the winter so the bush- 

 tit will find them in the nooks and comers for its nest; it often 

 makes use of spider's silk for the nest because it is soft and warm. 

 The Baltimore Oriole, actually weaves her nest but the bush-tit's is 

 of a coarse strong felt. But, you may ask, if there is a storm, does not 

 the nest pull apart? Oh! no, indeed, although it may hang 

 stretched and blown out of shape, the family of little ones is just 

 as safe as if they were under a strong ledge or roof. 



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