490 NESTS AND EQGS OF 



The following is Maj. Charles B. Bendire's account of the nesting and eggs 

 of this species: "Althougji this 'little Bush-Tit is a widely distributed species 

 throughout the West, and has be^n known to naturalists for more than thirty years, 

 nothing whatever has been placed on record respecting its nesting habits. The 

 credit for the discovery of their nests and eggs belongs to Lieutenant Benson; wha 

 found them breeding abtiridantly in the vicinity of Fort Huachuca during the month 

 of April, 1887. Their favorite abiding places seemed to be along dry water-courses, 

 up narrow ravines, running into the mountains and on flats, covered with scrub- 

 oak, between the hill-sides; he says that they are exceedingly tame, perfectly un^- 

 conscious of danger, and will- work on th«ir nests with a person not ten feet away 

 from them. They are one of the first birds to arrive in the spring, but are not resi- 

 dent throughout the year. The nests, of which a number are before me, are all more 

 or less gourd-like in form; that is, considerably narrower near the top than around 

 the bottom. They are not strictly pensile, but are woven into and supported by 

 small twigs and branches of the oak bushes (Quercus undulataf) in which they are 

 built. Several nests were placed in bunches of a species of mistletoe (probably 

 Phoredendron flavcscens), and in these cases the nests are suported and placed directly 

 in the forks of this plant.' They vary in length from seven to nine and a half inches- 

 and from four to five inches in diameter. The entrance to the nest is on the side, 

 near the top of the structure, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The inner 

 cavity is from four to five inches deep, and about one and a half inches in diameter. 

 The nests are outwardly composed of the dried, curled-up leaves of the white sage, 

 plant-down of a pinkish tint, spider webs, small bits of mosses and lichens, and are 

 thickly lined inside with soft, small feathers. The walls of the nest increase in 

 thickness from top to bottom, so that while near the top they are not over three- 

 eights of an inch through, near the bottom they are fully one and a half inches thick. 

 The nests are placed in about equal proportions in low oak bushes, from five to seven 

 feet from the ground, generally well concealed by the foliage, or in bunches of 

 mistletoe in oak or mesquite trees, from fifteen to twenty feet high. Some of these 

 birds commenced building in the first week of March, but no eggs were discovered in 

 any of the nests till fully a month later, the first ones being taken April 8, 1887. 

 The number of eggs to a set varies from four to six, five being the most common 

 number found. Probably two or more broods are raised during the season. The 

 eggs are pure white in color, ovate in shape, and measure .56x.42 inches for the 

 largest to .49x.40 "for the smallest. Their average size is .53x.40 inches."* The late 

 Captain B. P. Goss had a get of four eggs of the Lead-colored Bush-Tit, taken near 

 Fort Huachuca, Arizona, April 10, 1887. These measure .55x.45, .55X.44, .56x.45, .58x 

 .44 Inches, 



744. 1. SANTA BITA BTTSH-TIT. Psaltriparus santa ritce Ridgw. Geog. 

 Dist. — Santa Rita Mountains, Southern Arizona. 



This Bush-Tit, inhabiting the Santa Tlita Mountains, has, in all probability, the 

 same general habits which characterize P. plumheus. 



745. LLOYD'S BTTSH-TIT. Psaltriparus lloydi Sennett. Geog. Dist.— West- 

 ern Texas (mountains between Pecos River and Rio Grande), and west to Sonora. 



• Notes on a collection of Birds' Nests and Eggs from Southern Arizona Territory. 

 By the late Major Chas. B. Bendlre, U. S. A. Proceedings ot U. S. National Museum, 1887, 

 PP. 657-558. '■ 



