WESTERN BIRDS Wren-Tit 



GENUS CHAMx^A: PALLID WEEN-TIT. 



Pallid Wren-Tit: Chamcea jascinata henshawi. 

 FAMILY— WREN-TITS. 



The Wren-tit is not an attractive looking bird. In 

 fact, his light yellow iris gives him a rather uncanny- 

 look; his shortened forehead, which makes him look as if 

 some one had slapped him in the face; his long, expres- 

 sive tail, his fluffed-out feathers which give him a 

 scraggy appearance, while making him extremely inter- 

 esting, do not add to his beauty. 



They are six inches long, about half of which is tail, 

 and are a dull brown, or gray, in color, being lighter 

 below with indistinct markings. Male and female are 

 alike in plumage, habits, and calls. They are essentially 

 birds of the chaparral-covered hillsides, being found as 

 high as 7,000 feet. 



This form ranges in the foothills and valleys of the 

 interior from Shasta County south to Lower California, 

 and along the coast from Monterey Bay, southward. 

 From the Pacific coast of Oregon and northern Cali- 

 fornia (from Columbia River to Humboldt Bay) is 

 found the Coast Wren-tit (C. f. phaea) ; and from south- 

 ern Humboldt County to Santa Cruz, California, is still 

 another form which is known as the Ruddy Wren-tit 

 (C. f. rufula). 



Before knowing these birds I had read that they were 

 shy and hard to observe. I was therefore glad to learn, 

 by observation, that they were neither. To be sure, they 

 have a stealthy way of coming through the low bushes, 

 and as they are fond of this method of procedure, rather 

 than flying through the air, they are frequently heard 

 when not seen. But they have never impressed me as 

 being afraid of mankind. In fact, as I write two of them 



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