298 LAND BIRDS 



Mrs. Bailey accuses this bird of breaking up the nest 

 of a pair of gnatcatchers and one of lazuli buntings, al- 

 though both parents were present. It is probably the 

 habit of Wren-tits to steal eggs or nestlings ; for, wherever 

 found, they seem to be a terror to smaller birds, and 

 their approach is attended with as much consternation 

 as that of a shrike. 



743 a. CALIFORNIAN BUSH-TIT. — Psaltriparus 



minimus californicus. 



Family : The Nuthatches and Tits. 



Length: 4.00-4.50. 



Adults: Top of head light brown ; upper parts ashy gray ; under parts 



dull brownish gray. 

 Geographical Distribution : California, except northern coast district. 

 California Breeding Range : Oak regions below Boreal zone, west of the 



Sierra Nevada. 

 Breeding Season : April and May. 

 Nest: Bulky; pensile; gourd-shaped; entrance a small hole near the 



top ; made of moss, fibre, plant down, oak blossoms, and lichens ; 



lined with feathers. 

 Eggs: 5 to 9 ; plain white. Size 0.34 X 0.42. 



Throughout California west of the Sierra Nevada, 

 the tiny gray birds known as Bush-tits are numerous, 

 though so small are they and so protectively colored, 

 one may easily overlook them. At Elysian Park, Los 

 Angeles, they build each year in the circle of evergreens 

 near the pool, and usually there are several nests in the 

 live-oak at the foot of the slope near by. One busy 

 pair were finishing their nest when I discovered them, 

 May 2. They were belated, for in the next tree swung 



