226 NOTES ON CALIFORNIA ANIMALS. 



Salpiuctes obsoletus (Say), lioclc li'roi. 



A very conimou suiumcr habitant of rocky ledjjes everywhere, lleie 

 is a bird well named. Yea, though its systematic synonymy multiply 

 ibrever, yet will not the observant naturalist be teM)i)ted to call its 

 I'^nglish name other than " Rock Wren." It is tlioronj;lily chara(;teristic 

 of the bird's habits. 



I found it in ]\[ay abundant in the rugged limestone rocks that top 

 nearly all the high hills along the Lower McCloud Uiver, where its 

 animated song was suri)assed only by the sweeter music of the White- 

 throated Wren with which it sometimes associated.' In midsummer 

 when high up above the timber line of Shasta t!ie songs of the liock 

 Wrens came to me constantly from among the surrounding lava boul- 

 ders. Later in the season when at Sheep Eock lintte, I'O miles north- 

 east of Mount Shasta, the bleak forbidding rock bluffs were eniixencd 

 chiefly by the presence and the songs of these birds. 



Catherpes mexicanus conspersus Eidgw. Canon U'rcn. 



Neither as abundant nor as well distributed as the preceding species, 

 but like it a frequenter of the most desolate rocks, it was oiten seen 

 in the linu' rocks at liaird, where its young were also observed late in 

 June, but only one was found on the lava rocks above the tiinbe" line 

 of Shasta, although sometimes Ibund in suit-able pla(;es at rhe noi-ilieast 

 base of the mountain. 



At the first-mentioned locality 1 observed them creeping ovvv the 

 vertical, and sometimes overhanging, rock surfaces after the maniuM- of 

 the Creeper {Cerfhiu). 



But the retnarkable song of this Wren is the principal fact with le- 

 gard to it, and here I heard it at its best. I accompaniexl a party of 

 young men on a cave exploring trip once, and after a hard clin)b under 

 a blazing sun, over limestone rocks weathered out into points and edges 

 so sharp that our shoes were cut to pieces by them, we came in sight 

 of the cave. Here, while holding on to the sloping lock wall across 

 the face of which the trail led, we heard a bird song that caused each 

 man to look up. Clinging to the opposite wall o! the (iafion was a 

 W^hite-throated Caijon Wren pouring out bewitching n)elo(ly. '-Listei. !" 

 said some one. The song was quickly over, but tlu; bird flew nearer 

 the mouth of the cave and began again. It was about noon, w.th nor 

 a breath stirring and the sun's rays [)oiuing dou n. The cle;ir ringing 

 notes in the still air re echoed from the bare walls of rock all aionial. 

 A companion who bore a heavy coil of rope on his shoulders, turned 

 to me, the sweat dropping from his face: " Did you ever hear the like 

 beibref 1 certainly never had, and felt already repaid for my laborious 

 climb, ibr I had never known a feathered songster to utter notes so 

 enchanting. 



AVhen. a monjent later as we rested in the shelter of the cavern's 

 mouth, the wild, sweet song broke forth again, the singer this time 



