176 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 
a round doorway, and next they began weaving the walls of moss, 
fibres and lichens. From the doorway there was a sort of a hall down 
to the main living room. This was warmly lined with feathers. To 
make a good feather lining required a good deal of hunting. The 
feather lining was not really completed till after the eggs were laid, 
Whenever one of the bush-tits would come upon a feather, he would 
pick it up and bring it home. The bush-tits reminded me of some 
people who build a home, but are not able to furnish it throughout, 
so they pick up the furnishings later on, from time to time. 
In some parts of Oregon where the moss hangs in long bunches to 
the limbs, the bush-tit uses this 
natural beginning for a nest. I 
saw one of these birds build its 
home by getting inside of a 
long piece of moss and weave 
this into the wall of the nest. 
At another time, I saw a bush- 
tit’s nest twenty inches long. 
The little weavers had started 
their home on a limb and it 
was evidently not low enough 
to suit them, for they made a 
fibre strap ten inches long and 
then swung their gourd-shapcd 
nest to that, letting the nest 
hang in a bunch of willow 
leaves. 
I never had had a good idea 
of the amount of insect food a 
bush-tit’‘ consumed, until I 
watched a pair of these birds a 
few days after the eggs were 
hatched. Both birds fed in turn 
and the turns averaged from 
five to ten minutes apart. The The Long, Gourd-Shaped Nest of the 
parents were busy from dawn Bush-tit 
till dark. They searched the 
leaves and twigs, branches and trunks of every tree. They hunted 
through the bushes, grasses and ferns. They brought caterpillars, 
moths, daddy-long-legs, spiders, plant lice and many other kinds of 
insects. One pair of bush-tits about a locality means the destruction 
of a great many harmful insects. If we could but estimate the 
amount of insects destroyed by all the birds about any one locality, 
we should find. it enormous. Without the help of these assistant 
gardeners, the bushes and trees would soon be leafless. 

DROWNING 
_ Lay the body face downward, face turned to one side so as not 
to prevent breathing. Extend arms above the head. Kneel astride 
the buttock, place your hands on the short ribs, and alternately press 
down with the weight of your shoulders and release, twelve or fifteen 
times to the minute. Do this for an hour if necessary. When natural 
breathing is restored, rub legs and body toward the heart to stimulate 
circulation. 
