752 L The Sparrow-like Birds 



crest of brilliant yellow, which color is also present on the lower parts back of 

 the line of the breast. It is usually observed in small flocks among the higher 

 trees. Southeastern Asia is also the home of another group of bright-colored 

 Crested Tits (Machlolophus) . 



Bush Tits. While all members of the family thus far treated have at one 

 time or another been referred to a single genus (Parus), we have now come 

 to a series that, while not very widely removed, are usually considered suffi- 

 ciently distinct to merit independent generic rank, among them the Long-tailed 

 Tits of the Old World and the Bush Tits of western North America. The latter 

 (Psaltriparus] are delicate little soft-plumaged birds, only four or four and a half 

 inches long, with the upper parts plain grayish or brownish and the lower parts 

 light grayish, grayish white, or brownish white, the crown usually differing 

 slightly in color from the back; five or six species are recognized. They are 

 engaging little sprites, frequenting scrubby oaks on hillsides and tangled under- 

 growth along streams and in ravines, and are bubbling over with energy and 

 good nature. Dr. Coues, who enjoyed abundant opportunity of studying their 

 habits, says: "They are extremely sociable; flocks of fifty some say even a 

 hundred may be seen after the breeding season has passed. Often in ram- 

 bling through the shrubbery I have been suddenly surrounded by a troop of these 

 busy birds, perhaps unnoticed till the curious chirping they keep up attracted 

 my attention; they seemed to pervade the bushes. If I stood still, they came 

 close around me as fearless as if I were a stump, ignoring me altogether. At 

 such times it was pleasant to see the earnestness with which they conducted 

 affairs, and the energy they displayed in their own curious fashion." But engag- 

 ing habits do not by any means exhaust their attractiveness, for they are among 

 the most skilful of architects in the matter of nest building, constructing a bulky 

 purse-shaped nest suspended from twigs, usually at no great elevation from 

 the ground. It is composed of mosses, lichens, fibers, ferns, and grasses, and 

 lined with a profusion of soft feathers, wool, etc., with the entrance a small 

 circular opening usually at one side near the top. A typical nest may measure 

 twelve inches in length by four and a half inches in diameter at the bottom and 

 three inches at the top. The eggs, which may number from five to nine, are 

 pure white without markings. 



Verdin. Akin to the Bush Tits and formerly included with them is the 

 curious little Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps) of the arid regions of northern Mexico 

 and the adjacent portions of the United States. Nearly as small, but much more 

 stoutly built, it is distinguished by having the upper parts plain grayish and 

 the under parts grayish white, the head, neck, and chest bright yellow and the 

 lesser wing-coverts rich chestnut-red; the female is similar to the male but 

 usually somewhat duller. They frequent the dense chaparral and cactus 

 thickets of the desert regions and construct a bulky globular or flask-shaped nest 

 composed of sticks, thorny twigs, coarse grasses, etc., lined with soft feathers, 

 down, and the like. The nest is placed in bushes, usually but a few feet from 

 the ground, and has the entrance a small round hole in one end or side; the 

 three to six eggs are pale greenish blue dotted with reddish brown. 



