THE ROCK WREN. 315 



of the criiwn feathers will quite win him o\-er. so that he will accept a 

 gently insistent finger in jjlace (_)f the twig which has been his support. 

 The unfaltering trust of childhood has subtlued many a savage heart, but 

 when it is exemplified in a baby Wren one feels the ultimate appeal to 

 tenderness. 



Mr. Brown, of Glacier, coming upon an old Russet-backed Thrush 

 nest at dusk, thrust an exploratory finger o\'er its brim. Judge of his 

 surprise when out swarmed seven young Winter Wrens. Mr. Brown feels 

 reasonably sure, however, that the birds were hatched elsewhere, and that 

 they were only roosting temporarily in the larger nest, in view of its ampler 

 accommodations. 



No. 121. 



ROCK WREN. 



A. O. U. Xo. 715. Salpinctes obsoletus (Say). 



Description. — .-hiiilts: .\bove brownish gray changing on rump to cinnamon- 

 brown, most of the surface speckled by arrow-shaped marks containing, or con- 

 tiguous to, rounded spots of whitish ; wing-quills color of back, barred with dusky 

 on outer webs; middle pair of tail-feathers color of back barred with dusky; 

 remaining rectrices barred with dusky on outer webs only, each with broad sub- 

 terminal bar of blackish and tipped broadly with cinnamon-bufi" area varied by 

 dusky marbling; outermost pair broadly blackish- and cinnamon-barred on both 

 webs ; a superciliary stripe of whitish ; a broad post-ocular stripe of grayish 

 brown ; sides of head and unclerparts dull white shading into pale cinnamon or 

 vinaceous buff on flanks and under tail-coverts ; sides of head, throat and upper 

 breast spotted, mottled or streaked obscurely with grayish brown or dusky ; under 

 tail-coverts barred or transversely spotted with dusky. Bill dark horn-color above, 

 paling below; feet and legs brownish dusky; iris brown. Yoitng birds are more or 

 less barred or vermiculated above, without white speckling, and are unmarked 

 below. Length: 5.50-6.00 (139. 7-152.4) ; wing 2.76 (70) ; tail 2.09 (53) ; bill .70 

 (17.7) ; tarsus .83 (21). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size; variegated tail with broad buft'v tips 

 distinctive; rdck-haunting habits. 



Nesting. — Nest: in crannies of cliffs, of twigs, grasses, wool, hair and other 

 soft substances, approached by runway of rock-chips or pebbles. Eggs: 5-7, white 

 or pinkish white, sprinkled somewhat sparingly with pale cinnamon, chiefly about 

 larger end. Av. size .y^ x .56 (18.5 x 14.2). Season: May ist to June 20th; two 

 broods. 



General Range. — Western United States, northern and central [Mexico, and 

 southern British Columbia, chiefly in hilly districts ; eastward across Great Plains 

 to Kansas, Nebraska, etc. ; retires from northern portion of range in winter. 



Range in Washington. — Summer resident and migrant in open country east 



