TITMICE 



(746) Auriparus flaviceps flav- 

 iceps 



iSund.) {Xat.. gold titmouse: yellow head). 



VERDIN; YELLOW - HEADED 

 TITMOUSE. Ad. d — Plumage as 

 shown; entire head, including the 

 throat and sometimes the chest, 

 bright yellow, quite intense on the 

 forehead; shoulders bright chestnut. 

 Ad.'i — Similar but with less yel- 

 low on the head and less chestnut on 

 the shoulders. Im. — With no chest- 

 nut on the wing and not more than a 

 trace of yellow on the head. L., 4.40. 

 Nest — Bulky, flask-shaped, with a 

 small entrance-hole on the side; of 

 sticks, grasses and weeds lined with 

 feathers; eggs bluish-white specked 

 with brown, around the large ends. 



Range — Southwestern deserts from 

 Utah and Tex., southward. 



than in the north, and have no sign of white edging on the 

 wing coverts. While their habits are just the same, the birds 

 are a distinct species known as CAROLINA CHICKADEES. 

 This species has a higher-pitched more hurried song, a " tswee- 

 dee-dee, ts wee-dee-dee, " and the whistled call consists of 

 sometimes three and often four notes instead of two as ut- 

 tered by the northern bird. 



In the far north is a brown-capped species known as 

 HUDSONIAN CHICKADEES, a race of which extends 

 down to some of our Northern States. 



Among the tiniest of birds are VERDINS or YELLOW- 

 HEADED TITMICE, which are found in mesquite valleys 

 along our southwestern border. They are very active crea- 

 tures, hunting about the thorn bushes among which they like 

 to live, like Chickadees, and stopping to sputter away at you 

 if you stop too close to them as you look them over. Their 

 nests are in the same bushes — long bulky structures with a 

 small entrance on the side, the exterior being composed of 



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