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NUTHATCHES AND TITS 
744. Psaltriparus plumbeus Baird. Lead-colored Bush-Tit. 
Upper parts plain bluish gray ; sides of head brown; under parts grayish 
white, faintly tinged with pale brownish on belly. Length: 4.12-4.00, 
wing 2.00-2.15, tail 2.35-2.50. 
Distribution. — Upper Sonoran and Transition zones from eastern Oregon 
and western Wyoming to Arizona, and from western Texas to California. 
Nest. — In Chisos Mountains, Texas, 12 to 15 feet from ground, in a 
nut pine, a greenish gray bag 6 or 8 inches long, made of lichens, oak 
flowers, and catkins, woven with cocoon silk. Eggs: 4, white. 
When we were working in the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas and 
New Mexico, while the ant-eating woodpecker was calling and band¬ 
tailed pigeons were flying noisily to water, our attention would often 
be attracted by small voices in the brush, and presently a large flock 
of the tiny lead-colored bush-tits would swarm in and pass from 
juniper to juniper and pinon to pinon through camp, disappearing 
as they came, full of small talk and business. 
744.1. Psaltriparus santaritse Ridgw. Santa Rita Bush-Tit. 
Similar to plumbeus , but smaller, sides of head paler brown, and with a 
more or less distinct blackish line along sides of occiput. 
Distribution. — Santa Rita Mountains, southern Arizona. 
745. Psaltriparus lloydi Senn. Lloyd Bush-Tit. 
Upper parts gray ; sides of head and partial collar around back of head 
black; under parts grayish, faintly washed with 
pale brownish. 
Distribution. — Mountains of western Texas, 
between the Pecos and Rio Grande rivers; south 
to northern Mexico. 
GENUS AURIP ARUS. 
746. Auriparus flaviceps (Sund.). Verdin. 
Bill nearly straight; plumage compact; wings pointed, decidedly longer 
than tail. Adult male: head, neck, and chest bright yellow; olive on 
crown and sometimes orange on forehead; shoulder patch reddish chest¬ 
nut ; rest of upper parts gray ; under parts whitish. Adult female : sim¬ 
ilar, but yellow restricted and duller. Young : without yellow or reddish 
brown, and gray of upper parts tinged with brown. Length: 4.00-4.60, wing 
1.90-2.12, tail 1.75-2.05. 
Distribution. — Resident in Lower Sonoran zone from southern Texas to 
the Pacific and from southern Utah and Nevada to Mexico and northern 
Lower California. 
Nest. — Bulky, globular, flask or retort-shaped, the entrance a small 
round hole on one side ; composed of sticks, thorny twigs, and coarse grass 
stems, lined with feathers and down ; placed in thorny bushes or low trees. 
Eggs: 3 to 6, bluish or greenish white, speckled, chiefly around larger 
end, with reddish brown. 
The verdin lives in the lower mesquite valleys along the Rio Grande 
and the Colorado, the Gila and the Pecos rivers, seeming to prefer 
brushy valleys to open desert. It is an active little body, bobbing 
Fig. 587. 
