124 VERDIN. 
far excelling, to my mind, all other bird architecture of our fauna. Think of the size, 
varying from four to ten inches in diameter; then think of the size of the bird, but 
little larger than a Hummingbird! The shape is like a bottle, or, better still, a retort, 
with the mouth at one side and inclining downward. I found the nests built on and 
around one (in one instance two) horizontal branch. The body is composed of thorny 
twigs interwoven with wood-moss, grass, and bark.. The lining is of the softest down 
and feathers, not loosely thrown in, but woven into a sort of matting, covering not 
only the whole of the interior body of the retort, or nest proper, but also the neck to 
the very mouth. The distance from the mouth to the eggs is sometimes six inches. The 
place selected is usually the extremity of a branch of an exposed bush, and. easily 
approached. The highest nest was six feet, the lowest less than three feet from the 
ground. There they swing, free to every ‘norther,’ until they fall to pieces from decay. 
The only locality in which we found their nests was open chaparral, on that high 
ground where the cactus and a thorny, leafless bush, the junco, abound, and where are 
scattered at intervals clumps of trees of respectable growth, among which is the dark 
green ebony.” 
In the fifth volume of the above mentioned work, Mr. Sennett supplements his 
previous statements on the birds of the lower Rio Grande Valley, and, after having 
called special attention to the fact that his collected specimens of the Verdin are much 
more beautifully colored than those from Cape St. Lucas or the Colorado Valley, he 
proceeds as follows: ‘ 
“About half of my adult specimens were caught on the nest, which may seem 
strange to those not familiar with the nest; but one who has seen it can readily under- 
stand why the bird feels so secure within it. A little fellow brought me a bird alive, 
and when asked how he obtained it, replied, ‘I caught it asleep..—As regards the 
habits of the bird, aside from its breeding habits, I can add almost nothing to the 
meagre knowledge we already have. They are so diminutive and timid, upon approach 
always darting into the dense cover near at hand, that a mere glance at them only can 
generally be had, as of a leaf falling into a thicket. I have never seen them feeding, nor 
this season even singing, as upon one occasion the season before.—It is exceedingly 
difficult, if at all possible, to learn the habits of a bird no larger than a man’s thumb, 
which affeéts such inaccessible places as it does. It makes its home upon ridges, drier 
and less fertile than the alluvial bottoms, and where chaparral and grasses will not 
grow, but where numerous varieties of cactus and thorny bushes flourish, with occa- 
sional stunted, thorny trees, all together forming immense labyrinths, wherein occur 
occasionally tempting bare places, which seem to be paths, but yet on trial lead 
nowhere except to confusion, and spread over, too, with trailing cactuses, whose thorns 
will pierce an army boot. The greatest caution is necessary in leaving the roadways 
or trails through these thickets, for fear of loosing the way; and a broiling, vertical 
sun, and a clear view above the lower growth of at very most a few yards, add still 
more to the difficulty of studying the bird. The nest is not so difficult of sight, but 
access to it is often exceedingly tedious.... In similar localities are also found Black- 
throated Finches, White-eyed Vireos, and occasionally a Warbler. 
“The nest is a marvel of bird-architecture, and consists of a hollow ball composed 
