NEST: in tree or stump cavities, sometimes with foundation of dried leaves a foot deep, with living quarters of felted fur and feathers.

EGGS, 6 to 8, plain white.

California west of the Sierra Nevada. Breeds in Upper Sonoran zone from Mendocino and Siskiyou counties to northern Lower California.

Mountains of arid interior of western United States. Breeds in Upper Sonoran zone from Nevada, Utah and central Colorado to southeastern California, southern Arizona, southeastern New Mexico and western Texas.

Nests and eggs of above subspecies similar to those of Plain Titmouse.

Breeds in Upper Sonoran zone of Lower California, Cape region.

Averages 50 feet in height, rarely 80; trunk about 2 feet — very rarely 4. Sparsely distributed, singly or in small groves on banks of streams, gorges and ravines; usually in shade of large conifer from Queen Charlotte Islands south along the coast ranges to Monterey Bay. Ranges eastward to the Selkirks, over Washington and Oregon Mountains to western slope of Continental Divide in Montana where it becomes smaller and shrubby.