THE WESTERN WINTER WREN. 311 



of decayed stumps, brush-heaps, etc. Eggs: 4-7, usually 5, white or creamy-white, 

 dotted finely but sparing!)' with reddish brown ; occasionally blotched with the 

 same; sometimes, almost unmarked. Av. size .69 x .50 (17.5x12.7). Season: 

 first week in .April to first week in July according to altitude : two broods. 



General Range. — Western North .America, breeding from southern Cali- 

 fornia to southern Alaska, east to western Montana. Chiefly resident, but south 

 irregularly in Creat Basin States and California in winter. 



Range in Washington. — Resident in coniferous timber from sea level to limit 

 of trees; less common east of the Cascade Mountains; of irregular occurrence in 

 open country during migrations. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark. Hist. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues. Vol. H. 

 p. 186. J ? Urn. Com. Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VH. 1837, 193 (Columbia 

 River). Troqlodxtes (Anorthura) hveinalis Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 

 1858, I). 36Q. ' (T). C&S. L'. Rh. D-. Kb. Ra. Kk. J. B. E. 



Specimens.— L'. of \\'. P. Prov. B. BN. E. 



CliicL- — chick cliick — chick chick; it is the Winter Wren's way of say- 

 ing H(iw-(li:)-you-(lii? when you invade his doniain in the damp forest. The 

 \'oice is a size too large tor stich a mite of a bird, and one does not understand 

 its circumtlexecl quality until he sees its possessor making an emphatic curtsey 

 with each utterence. It is not every day that the recluse beholds a man. and 

 it may be that he has stolen a march imder cover of the ferns and salal 

 brush befiire iDtiching off his little mine of interrogatives at your knees. If 

 so, his brusque little being is softened by a friendly twinkle, as he notes your 

 surprise and then darts back chuckling to the cover of a fallen log. 



Again, if your entrance into the woods has been unnoticed, so that the 

 little huntsman comes upon yi)u in the regular way of business, it is amusing 

 to watch with what ruses of circum\-ention he seeks to inspect }'ou. Now 

 he appears abo\e a root on your right gawking on tiptoe ; then drops at a 

 flash behind its shelter to reprove himself in upbraiding chick chick's for his 

 rashness. Then, after a minute of apprehensive silence on }-our part, a 

 chuckle at your other elbow announces that the inspection is satisfactorily 

 completed on that side. The Lilliputian has you at his mercy, Mr. Gulliver. 



Dr. Cooper, writing fifty years ago, considered this the commonest 

 species in the forests of "tlie Territor}-." With the possible exception of 

 the Golden-crowned Kinglet, this is proljabh" still trtie, since it is found not 

 merely along streams and in romantic dells, but thruout the somber depths of 

 the fir and spruce forests from sea level to the limit of trees. It is fond of the 

 wilderness and has as vet learnefl n(T necessity of dependence upon man. Init it 

 by no means shuns the edges of town, if only sufficient density of cover be 

 provided. Because of the more open character of pine timber, tlie W^inter 

 W^ren is less common and is altogether local in its distribution east of the 

 mountains, being confined fur the most ])art to those forest areas which boast 

 an infusion of fir and tamarack. 



