CHARACTERS OP PSALTRIPARUS PLUMBEUS 125 



Pluiiibeouii Bush-tit 



Psaltriparns plumbcus 



I'saltria plumbca, Bd. Pr. Phila. Acad. vii. 1834, 118 (Colorado Chiquito, Arizona). 

 Fsaltrlparus plnmbens, Bd. BNA. 1858, 398 ; ed. of i860, pi. 33, f. 3 Eenner. PEER. x. 



1839, Whipple's Route, Birds, 25, pi. 33, f. 2 [ktizone.).— Henry , Pr. Pliila. Aoad. xi. 



1839, Wi.—Bd. RAB. 1864, H.—Coues, Ibis, 2d ser. I. 1865, 164 (Arizona).— Coues, Pr. 



Phila. Acad, xyiii. 1866, 79 (Arizona).— Ooop. Am. Nat. iii. 1869, il^.—Ooop. B. Cal. . 



1870, 49, flg.— Ootlee, Key, 1872, B%— Aiken, Pr. Boet. Soo. xv. 1872, 195 (Colorado).- S«t>. 



U. S. Greol. Surv. Terr, for 1871, 1872, 464 (GJreen River, Wyoming).— Ooaes, BNW. 



1874, 23.— Farr. If Hensk. Rep. Orn. Specs. 1R74, 7. 

 Psaltriparus minimus var. plumbeus, Ridg. Bnll, Ess. Inst. V. 1873, 180.— a B. If R. NAB. 



i. 1874, 110, pi. 7, f. 10.— Hensk Rep. Orn, Specs. 1874, 40, 99. 

 Leaden Titmouse, Plumbeous Tltmuusc, Lead-colored Titmouse, Lead-colored Busli- 



titmouse, Autliors. 



Hab. — Rocky Mountain region of the United States, southerly ; north to 

 Green River, Wyoming ; west to the Humboldt Mountains, Nevada. 



Ch.sp. — i 9 Plumbeus, vertice coneolore,infra griseo-albus; la- 

 terihiis capitis pallide brunnescentibus; caudd alis longiore. 



$ 9 : Clear plumbeous, with little or no olive or brownish shade, the top 

 of the head not different from the back. Sides of the head pale brownish. 

 Under parts as in P. minimus, but rather clearer. Tail considerably longer 

 than the wings. Eyes indifferently yellow or dark brown. Length about 

 Ai inches ; wing, 2 or rather less (l|-2i); tail, 2J-2i ; bill, J ; tarsus, f. 



This species is very closely related to P. minimus, and may ultimately prove 

 to be simply a local race ; but I have seen no specimens not readily dis- 

 tinguishable. The total length is somewhat greater, owing to the greater 

 size of the tail, which sometimes exceeds that of the wings by half an inch. 

 The general coloration is clearer and purer; the crown is not different in 

 ■color from the back, and the cheeks are pale brownish in obvious contrast. 



UP to the present time, no one seems to have found the nest 

 of the Plumbeous Bush-tit, though several naturalists be- 

 sides myself have collected diligently in regions where the bird 

 abounds. Not to pass over so extraordinary a specimen of bird- 

 architecture as the genus Psaltriparus has invented and success- 

 fully introduced, I shall refer to the nests of P. minimus, from 

 which those of the scarcely distinct P. plumbeus cannot be pre- 

 sumed to differ. The order of architecture is thoroughly com- 

 posite ; in its execution, the qualities of skill, ingenuity, good 

 taste and laborious perseverance are exhibited on the part of 

 the builders; while the wee creatures seem possessed of no 

 little ambition to make a monument, which, if not so lasting as 

 t)rass, is infinitely more comfortable and convenient. This nest 

 Jaelongs in the category of pensile structures, being suspended 



