Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

BUSH-TIT.

743. Psaltriparus minimus. 4½ inches.

Range.—Pacific coast of California, Oregon and Washington. In habits all of these birds are similar to the [Chickadees]. They are full of life, and in searching for insects are as much at home when upside down on the outer end of a bunch of pine needles as are the Chickadees. For nest building they have no superiors, making long gourd-like structures of fibers, moss, and grass, woven closely together, lined with feathers and wool, suspended from twigs at a low elevation or woven into some thick brush; they have a small opening near the top for the doorway. They lay from four to nine pure white eggs (.54 × .40).