GNATCATCHERS AND VERDINS 205 



dins, with their bright olive-green crowns and 

 yellow heads, need never be mistaken for any 

 dull-colored gnatcatcher; but the female verdin 

 is not so easily distinguished. The yellow and 

 green of her coat is restricted to two small 

 patches, one on the head and one on the neck 

 just beneath the bill, and the colors are almost 

 always of so dull a hue as to be hardly seen 

 when the bird is in motion. 



A good time to become familiar with the 

 verdins is during the breeding-season; for you 

 will then learn to associate them with the large 

 retort-shaped nests which they place in the 

 wild lavender, mesquite, and other thorny 

 bushes, and you will see both male and female 

 together, making it possible to compare their 

 markings. Without making any protest or 

 appearing much disturbed, the birds will let 

 you sit for hours under the nest while they 

 come and go about their business. 



The nests are always easy to locate, for they 

 are large and conspicuous. Those that I have 

 found on the Colorado Desert were almost 

 always located in the upper crotches of the 

 desert lavender bushes which grow so plenti- 



