The Bird Book Part 100

Range.--Desert regions of southwestern United States, chiefly in the valleys of the Gila and Colorado Rivers.

This species is much paler than the last and has a shorter bill. It is fairly common but locally distributed in its range and nests at low elevations in bushes or cacti. The three or four eggs are pale greenish blue, sparingly dotted with reddish brown. Size 1.10 .75.

Data.--Phoenix, Arizona, April 2, 1897. 3 eggs. Large nest of dry twigs, rootlets, etc., lined with bits of rabbit hair and feathers; 4 feet from the ground in a small shrub.

711a. DESERT THRASHER. _Toxostoma lecontei arenicola._

Range.--Northern Lower California.

This form of the last is said to differ in being darker above. It is a very locally confined race, chiefly about Rosalia Bay, Lower California.

Its eggs will not be distinctive.

712. CRISSAL THRASHER. _Toxostoma crissale._

Range.--Southwestern United States from western Texas to eastern California; north to southern Utah and Nevada.

This species may be known from any other of the curve-billed Thrashers by its grayish underparts and bright chestnut under tail coverts. These sweet songsters are abundant in suitable localities, nesting at low elevations in chaparral. Their nests are large, and bulkily made of sticks and rootlets; the eggs range from two to four in number and are pale greenish blue, unmarked. Size 1.10 .75.

713. CACTUS WREN. _Heleodytes brunneicapillus couesi._

Range.--Southwestern United States from Texas to eastern California; north to southern Nevada and Utah.

This species is the largest of the Wrens, being 8.5 inches in length.

They are very common in cactus and chaparrel districts, where they nest at low elevations in bushes or cacti, making large purse-shaped structures of gra.s.ses and th.o.r.n.y twigs, lined with feathers and with a small entrance at one end. They raise two or three broods a year, the first set of eggs being laid early in April; the eggs are creamy white, dotted, so thickly as to obscure the ground color, with pale reddish brown. Size .95 .65. Data.--Placentia, Cal., April 15, 1901. Nest in cactus about 6 feet from the ground; made of gra.s.ses and lined with feathers and rabbit fur; nest 8 inches in diameter, 18 inches long.

[Ill.u.s.tration 425: Pale greenish blue.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 711--712.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pale greenish blue.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cactus Wren.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Creamy white.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 424

713a. BRYANT'S CACTUS WREN. _Heleodytes brunneicapillus bryanti._

Range.--Northern Lower California and coast of southern California.

The nesting habits of this variety differ in no respect from those of the last.

713b. SAN LUCAS CACTUS WREN. _Heleodytes brunneicapillus affinis._

Range.--Southern Lower California.

Eggs indistinguishable from those of the last.

715. ROCK WREN. _Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus._

Range.--United States, west of the plains, breeding north to British Columbia, and south to Mexico; winters in southwestern United States and southward.

This species appears to be quite abundant on rocky hillsides throughout its range; like most of the Wrens they draw attention to themselves by their loud and varied song. They nest in crevices or beneath overhanging rocks, making the nest out of any trash that may be handy, such as weeds, gra.s.s, wool, bark, rootlets, etc.; their eggs range from four to eight in number and are pure white, finely specked with reddish brown.

Size .72 .50.

716. GUADALUPE ROCK WREN. _Salpinctes guadeloupensis._

Range.--Guadalupe Island, Lower California.

A similar but darker and browner species than the Rock Wren. It breeds in abundance throughout the island from which it takes its name, placing its nests in crevices among the boulders or cavities of fallen tree trunks and, as is often done by the last species, lining the pathway to the nest with small pebbles. The eggs, which are laid from January to April, resemble, in all respects, those of the common Rock Wren.

717. WHITE-THROATED WREN. _Catherpes mexica.n.u.s albifrons._

Range.--Northeastern Mexico and the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

The habits of the White-throated Wren are the same as those of the Canon Wren, which variety is more common and better known; the eggs of this species are not distinguishable from those of the next.

[Ill.u.s.tration 426: Rock Wren.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: white.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

Page 425

717a. CANON WREN. _Catherpes mexica.n.u.s conspersus._

Range.--Rocky Mountain region and west to the Sierra Nevadas; north to Wyoming and Idaho and south to New Mexico and Arizona.

The Canon Wrens are uniform rusty brown all over except the large sharply defined white throat patch; the underparts, wings and tail are barred with black, and the back is specked with white. Their name is well chosen for they are found abundantly in rocky canyons, ravines, and side hills. They nest in crevices or caves among the rocks, placing their nests in small niches; they are made of twigs, leaves, gra.s.ses and feathers, and the three to six eggs, which are laid from April to June according to locality, are white, sprinkled and blotched with reddish brown and lilac. Size .72 .52.

717b. DOTTED CANON WREN. _Catherpes mexica.n.u.s punctulatus._

Range.--Pacific coast from Oregon to Lower California.

The habits and eggs of this coast form of the White-throated Wren do not vary in any particular from those of the preceding variety.

718. CAROLINA WREN. _Thryothorus ludovicia.n.u.s ludovicia.n.u.s._

Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf to southern New England and Illinois; resident in the greater part of its range.

These loud-voiced songsters are well known in the south where they are very abundant, being found along banks of streams, in thickets, along walls, or about brush heaps. They nest in almost any suitable nook or corner, in hollow trees or stumps, bird boxes, about buildings, and in brush or bushes. When in exposed positions, the nest, which is made of all sorts of trash, is arched over; the eggs, which are laid from March to June, and frequently later, as several broods are sometimes reared in a season, are white, profusely specked with light reddish brown and purplish. Size .74 .60.