Wren WESTERN BIRDS 



one of the most inspiring of bird songs. Perhaps the 

 fact that it is often heard in the solitude and grandeur 

 of the mountains may account for this feeling, but it is, 

 indeed, a wonderful song. 



This little Wren is brown save for the white throat 

 and breast; the upper parts are finely spotted with black- 

 ish and light markings, save the tail, which is crossed 

 with narrow black bars; the belly is a dark rusty brown; 

 the bill is long and slightly curved. The young are 

 similar but usually lack the whitish spots on upper parts, 

 and the lower under parts are mottled with dusky rather 

 than specked. 



In their southern range the birds sometimes come about 

 the gardens, build about old buildings, not unlike the 

 House Wren, but their musical notes belong to the moun- 

 tain canyons, rather than the abodes of man. They are 

 not, however, afraid of human beings. Miss Mary Mann 

 Miller tells of one of these Wrens that came under the 

 floor of her tent in the camp on Mt. Wilson and searched 

 for insects, occasionally giving its wonderful song as it 

 foraged. It seemed absurd that this wild song which one 

 associates with the solitude and grandeur of the moun- 

 tains should issue from beneath a floor. 



Though this little bird nests in crannies and crevices 

 of rocks, on ledges in caves, etc., in this respect resem- 

 bling the Rock Wren, the black banding and light tip 

 of tail of the latter birds make them easily identified. 



A Wren which differs from the preceding chiefiy in 

 being smaller, having shorter bill, and being more thickly 

 spotted on the back, is called the Dotted Canon Wren. 



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