KISKA WREN 163 



and is frequently found on the window-sills searching for insects. On one 

 occasion I heard a gentle tapping at my back window; as I had frequently 

 heard the same noise, I carefully drew the curtain partly aside, and saw a Wren 

 endeavoring to obtain a fly that was inside of the pane of glass. The bird did 

 not appear to be disturbed by my presence. 



The above account is based on observations made on various islands 

 in the xVleutian Chain, from Unalaska westward, and must not be 

 construed as applying especially to the wrens of Attn Island. The 

 observations were made before the species was subdivided as it is now. 



TROGLODYTES TROGLODYTES KISKENSIS (Oberholser) 



KISKA WREN 



HABITS 



In naming this wren. Dr. Oberholser (1919) described it as similar 

 to meligerus, the preceding form, "but wing, tail, and tarsus shorter; 

 upper parts lighter, less rufescent (more grayish) brown, and poste- 

 riorly more uniform (less distinctly barred) ; lower parts more deeply 

 ochraceous, and posteriorly somewhat less heavily barred with black- 

 ish." The eight specimens from Kiska Island, on which this sub- 

 species is based, exhibit individual variations which suggest inter- 

 gradation with both the Attn Island bird and the Unalaska bird. 



Most of the wrens of this race that we saw on Kiska Island were 

 living on the shore of Kiska Harbor. A high, rocky cliff, on which a 

 pair of Peale's falcons were evidently nesting, rose above a narrow 

 beach strewn with masses of broken rocks and boulders, with scat- 

 tered tufs of long grass growing in some places among the rocks. 

 Pacific eiders were nesting among these tufts of grass, pigeon guille- 

 mots had their eggs hidden far under the rocks, and on a grassy slope 

 some Aleutian song sparrows were singing songs reminding us of 

 home. Here the wrens were darting in and out among the rocks, 

 climbing over them, or perching on their tops to sing, often bobbing 

 up and down in true winter-wren fashion. Their songs were much 

 like those of the eastern winter wren, but it seemed to me that they 

 were louder and richer; perhaps they sounded more beautiful by 

 contrast with their bleak surroundings, the rocky background, the 

 pounding surf, and the cries of sea birds. 



TROGLODYTES TROGLODYTES ALASCENSIS Baird 



ALASKA WREN 



Plate 31 



HABITS 



This race of the winter wren group is now supposed to be confined 

 to the Pribilof Islands, on St. George and St. Paul Islands. The type, 

 which was obtained by Dr. Dall on the former island, was an im- 

 mature bird in its first plumage. 



