Miteried Cactus Wren. gt. - 
of or State. This form has silver-white powder, or farina, and the 
lobes of the frond are blunter, giving the fern a coarser aspect 
z _ than the golden-back. The difference in appearance of the two 
forms seems to me quite as great as that in many another instance 
where it has formed the basis for elevating a new variety, at least. 
NOTES ON THE CACTUS WREN. 
BY A. W. ANTHONY. 
I first made the acquaintance of the cactus wren ( Campylorhyn- 
chus brunnetcapillus), in southwestern New Mexico, where they 
were abundant in all suitable localities, their large covered nests 
forming quite a conspicuous feature of the landscape wherever cac- 
tus or other thorny growth offered suitable nesting advantages. 
As these nests were usually seen in groups of from four or five to 
a dozen, frequently six or seven being seen in one mesquite bush, 
the first impression obtained was that the birds nested in colonies. 
As the season advanced, however, and the collections of nests were 
found to be used by but a single or at most two- pairs of birds, a 
question of what the rest of the nests were for, frequently presented 
itself. It was very evident from even a casual examination that 
nearly or all of the nests had been built at about the same time, and 
from their uniform fresh and unbroken appearance I concluded that 
they could not have been subjected to the driving storms and win- 
try winds that sweep that country from October until April. 
It was not until the winter of 1889, however, that a possible ex- 
planation presented itself. On October 24 of that year, while hunt- 
_ ing antelope near the Mexican boundary, I availed myself of the 
protection of a small thicket of mesquite scrub to observe the move- 
ments of a herd of game in the plain beyond. I had scarcely con- 
cealed myself when I saw flying toward me a cactus wren, with its 
mouth full of dry grass. Alighting in a bush near by it immediate- 
ly entered a nest within thirty feet of me, and after a moment reap- 
peared without the grass and started for another load. An exam- 
ination showed that the grass had been used as a lining and to fur- 
ther thicken the walls. The long horizontal tunnel-like opening 
_ also gave evidence of having been lengthened. Five or six other 
nests within a radius of fifty feet all showed equal evidence of hav- 
ing been refitted and strengthened. Here at last was a possible 
