. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 2l6 BIRDS OF AMERICA doorway, there was a sort of a hall down to the main living-room. This was warmly lined with feathers. To make a soft feather lining re- quired a good deal of hunting. The feather lin- ing 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 ].)eople who build a house, 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 wher
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 2l6 BIRDS OF AMERICA doorway, there was a sort of a hall down to the main living-room. This was warmly lined with feathers. To make a soft feather lining re- quired a good deal of hunting. The feather lin- ing 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 ].)eople who build a house, 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 moss hangs in long bunches from 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 twentv 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 fiber strap ten inches long and then swung their gourd-shai)ed nest to that, letting the nest hang in a bvmch 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 parents were busy from dawn 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 de- stroyed 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. William L. Finley. VERDIN Auriparus flaviceps flavic
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Keywords: ., bookauthorpearsont, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1923
