488 NESTS AND EQGS OF 



California. On account of its retired habits it is seldom seen. It frequents the 

 shrubbery of out-of-the-way ravines and solitary canons, often -where there is no 

 water. The nest is built in- low bushes from two to four feet above the ground, is 

 cup-shape in form, with thick walls, and compactly made of bark-strips, grasses, 

 fibrous roots, lined with cattle hair. The cavity measures about three inches in 

 width and three-fourths deep. The breeding season begins in May, and two broods 

 are usually reared in a season. From three to five eggs are laid, four being the 

 usual complement; they are of a plain pale blue, a shade darker than those of the 

 Black-throated Bunting or Dickcissel, Spi:a amcricana. Seven eggs of this species, 

 collected by Mr. R. B. Herron in San Gorgonia Pass give the following respective 

 measurements: .68x.54, .66x.54, .69x.58, .77x.56, .75x.55, .76x.56, .75x.55. The average 

 size is .73X.56. Mr. Emerson informs me that the birds sit very close on the nest, 

 and when flushed immediately set up a hissing or cricket-like sound. 



742o. PALID WKEN-TIT. Chamwa fasciata hensliawi Ridgw. Geog. Dist. — 

 Interior of California, including the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, from the 

 head of the Sacramento Valley south to Northern Lower California. 



The habits, nesting, etc., of this paler subspecies are the same as those that are 

 characteristic of the last species; the eggs are indistinguishable. 



743. BUSH-TIT. Psaltriparus minimus (Towns.) Geog. Dist. — Northwestern 

 coast, from Northern California to Washington. 



This is a darker-colored species than the California Bush-Tit. It is a common 

 resident of Oregon and northward into Washington. Breeds prefferredly in thickets 

 of ash and willow, building a beautiful pensile nest like that represented in our 

 illustration of P. m. californicus. The eggs of the two birds are likewise indis- 

 tinguishable. 



743a. CALIFORNIA BUSH-TIT. Psaltriparus minimus californicus Ridgw. 

 G«og. Dist— California, except northern coast district. 



This lighter colored Bush-Tit is a common bird in California, It frequents 

 bushes and low shrubbery, and very actively hops among the branches, hanging 

 from them in the manner of other Titmice. The beautiful and bulky purse-shaped 

 nest built by this species seems out of all proportions to the diminutive size of the 

 bird. The one shown in our illustration is drawn from a typical specimen collected 

 near Santa Paula, California, by Dr. S. P. Guiberson, April 11, 1885. It was sus- 

 pended from a small, forked twig, eight feet from the ground. It is six inches long. 

 Prof. Evermanil says that the nests vary all the way from four to twenty-two inches 

 in length. From five to nine pure white, unmarked eggs are laid, commonly six or 

 seven. Ten eggs out of a number collected by Mr. R. B. Herron in San Gorgonia 

 Pass in May, measure .51x.40, .53x.40, .51x.39, .54x.40, .55x.41, .56x.41, .54x.41, .55x.43, 

 .54X.44, .54X.42. 



7436. GBINDA'S BUSH-TIT. Psaltriparus minimus grindw (Belding.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Lower California. 



There is, apparently at the present time, no description concerning the nidifica- 

 tion of the variety of Bush-Tit inhabiting Lower California. Its breeding habits, 

 however, can differ but little, if any, from P. minimus or cqlifornicus. 



744. LEAD-COLORED BUSH-TIT. Psaltriparus tHumbeus Baird. Geog. 

 Dist. — Rocky Mountain district, from Western Colorado and Wyoming to Eastern 

 Oregon and Western Nevada, south to Southern New Mexico and Arizona. 



