THE WESTERN HOUSE WREN. 



309 



Auilulion. ( )rn. Biog. V. 1839, 310 (Columbia River). Troglodytes parkmanni. 

 Aud., Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. XH. pt. II. 1858, p. 368. (T.j C&S. D'. Ra. 

 D^ Ss^ Kk. J. B. E. 



Specimens.— U. of W. Prov. P. B. 



SlXCIi our country is pretty well supplied with W'rens, and those too 

 which are c<_)ntenl with our climate the year around, this bustling down-Easter, 

 arri\ing at what he considers the proper season, does not figure so largely in 

 local bird society as across 



Altho original- 



the Rockies. 



ly tlescribed by Audubon 

 from material secured by 

 Townsend, at Vancouyer. in 

 the Thirties, parlciiiaiiii gi\-es 

 eyidence of being a new- 

 comer, comparatiyely speak- 

 ing. In the first place, the 

 late arrival, April 25th at 

 Puget Sound points, marks 

 the species in which tlie tra- 

 dition of a hard climate is 

 still strong. .\nd, in the 

 second place, the slightly 

 paler plumage acquired while 

 crossing the desert has not 

 \-et been lost, altho it is very 

 certain that it could not long 

 withstand consecutive cen- 

 turies of residence in our 

 humid climate. It is not 

 surprising, therefore, that 

 the House Wren is not 

 abundant nor well distribut- 

 ed in western Washington. 

 On the East-side it is neither 

 common nor rare, Iieing 

 found about long-established 

 ranches and wherever the 

 presence of a little timber 

 afifords the variety of cover which is essential to its happiness. 



Once upon the scene. howe\-er, a little Recuse Wren goes a great ways. 

 He is bursting with energy, and music escapes from his busy mandibles like 

 steam from a safety valve. The first task is to renovate last year's quarters, 



Taken in Oregon. 



Photo by II'. 

 A VERY BUSY WREN. 



L. Fiiiley. 



NOT QUITE SO BUSY AS APPEARS, HOWEVER. THE PICTURE IS 

 COMPOSITE AND PRESENTS THE SAME BIRD TWICE. 



