TROaLODYTID.'l<: — T 1 1 K W It KNS. 



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Tlio nest i.s liomoj,'eneous in structure, edinposed entirely of tliin strips (if 

 recklisli-colored bark and line roots, interspersed with a few small hits of 

 wool. It is distorted by j)acking, so that measurements of it would be 

 valueless; its dimensions in its pressed condition are: diametei', 5 inches; 

 depth, 2 inches. The cavity is shallow and saucer-shapmi. 



From Sir. Eidgway we learn that from tlic summit of tiie Sierra Nevada 

 eastward, as far as the party explored, he found this Wren universally dis- 

 tributed. Ill the middle provinces of the I'ocky Mountains it was the most 

 abundant sjiecies of the foniily, but was not so abundant in the Wahsatdi 

 Mountains. The general resort of this species was among rocky or stony 

 hill-slopes, though it was not ontined to such lucidities. At Carson City 

 he found it particularly partial to the rubbish of the decaying jjine-logs. At 

 Virginia City it was the only Wren seen fretj^uenting the old buildings and 

 abandoned mining-shafts, in its predilection for such places reminding him 

 very much of the Thriioihoras htdovicuiuHs, which in its manners it very 

 strongly resembles. 



Mr. Eidgway noticed a wonderful variety in the notes of tiiis Wren. Its 

 peculiarly guttural turce was repeatedly heard, and its song in spring had 

 a slight resemblance in modulation to that of the Carolina Wren, tlunmh 

 altogether lacking the power and richness so characteristic of the supeHi song 

 of tliat bird. Freipicntly its song was changed into a prolonged monotonous 

 trill, similar to the tremulous spring-call of the Jiinco h//cma/ii. 



This spiecies is not so wary as the Cailirrpcs ■mexkaniis. Upon suildcnly 

 starting up an indi\ idual of this kind, he would Hy to the nearest boulder, 

 turn with his breast towards the party, swing oddly from side to side, all the 

 while ludicrously bowing and scolding the intruder with his peculiar sharp 

 expressions of displeasure. 



Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the Fauna of the Territory of Montana, states 

 that he observed this bird occasionally through the main Eocky Mountain 

 chain to near the crossing of the Bitterroot, but it was less common than 

 among the cliffs and rocks of tlic barren plaui along their eastern slojie. 

 Though he did not find it in the western j)art of Washington Territory, he 

 has no doubt that it frequents jiarts of tlie rocky canons of the Columbia 

 Plain. A nest with nine eggs was found in a log-cabin below Fort Eeuton. 



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Genus CATHERPES, P-aiki.. 



Cntherpcs, B.inui, lUrds X. Am. !».%, 3.^p7. (Type, Tlii-iiulhnnismeaykaiius, Sw.) 



Ge.v. Char. Bill loiiafcr than tho hoad, .'ili'iulci- ; all the outlines nearly straijjht to the 

 tip, then gently deciirvcd, gonys least so ; nostrils linear; tarsus short, al)out equal to the 

 middle toe, which reaches to the middle of the middle claw. Outer toe considerably 

 longer than the inner, reaching beyond the base of the middle claw. Wings a little longer 

 than the tail ; the exposed portion of the fiist primary about half that of the fourth and 

 18 



