The Bush-Tits 
1840, p. 269 (Santa Barbara); Grinnell, Condor, vol. v., 1903, p. 85 (call notes); Finley, 
Condor, vol. vii., 1905, p. 91, figs, (habits); Swarth, Auk, vol. xxxi., 1914, p. 510, map 
(crit.; distr., changes of plumage, etc.); R. C. Miller, Condor, vol. xxiii., 1921, p. 121, 
map (flock behavior). 
No. 126 a California Bush-Tit 
A. O. U. No. 743a. Psaltriparus minimus californicus Ridgway. 
Synonym.— Interior Bush-Tit. 
Description. —Similar to P. m. minimus, but paler and grayer, especially 
whiter below, with less of contrast between fresh and worn plumage; pileum buffy brown; 
back, etc., mouse-gray; throat and breast pallid mouse-gray or whitish; belly drab-gray; 
sides vinaceous buff; the skirtings of wings and tail, especially the remiges, bluish ash. 
Range of P. m. californicus. —Upper Sonoran and Transition zones, interiorly, 
from northeastern Oregon south to the southern end of the Sierras. 
Distribution in California. —Resident in the valley and on the slopes of the 
San Joaquin-Sacramento trough, broadly; and in northern California east of the humid 
Pacific coastal strip and east to the Nevada line. Range curves around the southern 
end of the Sierras to (at least) the latitude of Lone Pine. 
Authorities.—Heermann ( Psaltria minima ), Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 
ser. 2, ii., 1853, p. 264, part; Ridgway , Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., vol. ii., 1884, p. 89 
(orig. desc.; type locality, Baird, Shasta Co.); Beal, U. S. Dept. Agric., Biol. Surv. 
Bull., no. 30, 1907, p. 74, pi. (food); Tyler, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 9, 1913, p. 106 
(Fresno; habits, occurrence, etc.); Swarth, Auk, vol. xxxi., 1914, p. 516, map (crit.; 
distr., changes of plumage, etc.). 
HOP O’ MY THUMB is one of the six most characteristic examples 
of California bird-life. Whether as a member of the bug-hunters’ brigade, 
or as a very domestic person devoted to architecture, his ways are engag¬ 
ing and his achievements memorable. Of his movements en troupe 
Dr. Joseph Grinnell, dean of western ornithologists, has given, perhaps, 
the best account; 1 
“During three-fourths of the year the California bush-tits forage 
about in flocks. These bands may consist of as many as thirty individ¬ 
uals, but generally there are from fifteen to twenty. Although we call 
them flocks, they are not such in the sense that blackbirds or linnets form 
flocks; for the bush-tits never bunch together and mount high in air to 
take a prolonged flight. But they form a loitering company, scattered 
among several scrub-oaks or brush-clumps. There may be a general 
onward movement, for if a person locates himself in the midst of the 
restless drove, in a few minutes they will have almost all gone off in some 
particular direction. A few stragglers sometimes forget themselves, and 
suddenly feeling lost, fly helter-skelter after the main company with 
excited calls. Evidently there are some, perhaps two or three adults, 
^‘Call Notes of the Bush-Tit,” by Joseph Grinnell: The Condor, Vol. V., No. 4, July, 1903, pp. 85-87. 
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