312 



THE WESTERN WINTER WREN. 



Jn winter, because of heavy snows, the birds appeal" to retire to a large 

 extent upon the \aneys and lowlaiuls, nor do they appear to reoccupv the 

 mountain forests until they have rearetl a hrst brood upon* the lower le\'els. 

 Just how familiar a species this bird is at sea-le\el does not appear to be gen- 

 erally realized. In the spring of 1905 I estimated that forty pairs were nest- 

 ing in Ravenna Park 

 alone. Nor do they 

 by any means desert 

 the lowlands in toto 

 in summer, for they 

 are seen regularly at 

 that season thruout 

 Puget Sound, upon 

 the islands of Wash- 

 ington Sound, and 

 upon the West Coast. 



It is the Winter 

 Wren, chiefly, which 

 gladdens the depths 

 of the ancient forest 

 with music. Partly 

 because of its unique 

 isolation, but more 

 because of the joy- 

 ous abandon of the 

 little singer, the song 

 of the Winter \Vren 

 strikes the bird-lover 

 as being one of the 

 most refreshing in 

 the Northwest. It 

 consists of a rapid 

 series of gurgling 

 notes and wanton 

 trills, not \-ery loud 

 nor of great \'ariety, 

 but ha\-ing all the 

 spontaneity of bub- 

 bling water, a tiny cascade of song in a waste of silence. The song 

 comes always as an outburst, as tho some mechanical obstruction had 

 given wav before the pent-uj) music. Indeed, one bird I heard at Moclips 

 preceded his song with a series of tittering notes, which struck me 



Taken in Scotlh 



Photo by titc Author. 

 A THICKET IN RAVEJ^NA PARK, 



WHICH ONLY THE WINTER WREN WILL EXPLORE. 



