ALASKA WREN 167 



out winter coat of the blue fox ; those examined microscopically by 

 Dr. Heath proved to be from this source. 



Eggs. — The six eggs that came with the above nest are ovate and 

 have very little gloss. They are pure white; some are nearly, or 

 quite, immaculate, but most of them are sparingly sprinkled, mainly 

 about the larger end, with fine pinpoints of the palest brown. 



The earlier reports by natives that this wren lays as many as 10 

 or 12 eggs should not be taken seriously ; probably the natives were 

 careless or could not count accurately. Dr. Heath (1920) says: 

 "In the majority of the nests examined this year the number of eggs 

 laid is 7. Six may be the complement. * * * ^ young, intelli- 

 gent native boy told me that he had examined several wren's nests 

 during the past 10 years, and had never found more than 7 eggs 

 or young." He says that the eggs "are more or less peppered with 

 reddish dots." The eggs in his photograph all show these mark- 

 ings plainly (pi. 31). The measurements of 34 eggs average 17.0 by 

 13.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 19.0 

 by 13.7, 18.0 by 14.0, 14.0 by 13.0, and 17.1 by 12.2 millimeters. 



Young. — Dr. Heath (1920) writes: "A nearly as I can judge from 

 one pair of wrens, the period of incubation lasts 11 days, and the young 

 in this same nest were fed for 22 days. The incubation period 

 seems too short and the altricial period too long. When the eggs 

 are hatched the male abandons his usual haunts, and with his mate 

 collects insects from foggy morn to yet more foggy eve. Wlien this 

 brood is dismissed a second one may be reared the same season. In 

 1918, for example, E. C. Crompton, Government agent on St. George, 

 reported to me the discovery of a nest that was left by the young 

 about the middle of July. During the following week the female 

 deposited a second set of eggs." 



Plumages. — Ridgway (1904) says of the young: "Essentially like 

 adults, but brown of upper parts more rufescent, flanks and under 

 tail-coverts less distinctly barred (bars sometimes obsolete), and 

 feathers of under parts more or less distinctly margined with brown 

 or dusky." Nelson (1887) says that the young "may be distinguished 

 from the adult by a smoky brown shade on the sides of the head, 

 chin, and throat, and a brighter rusty-red on the back, especially on 

 the rump. In the adults the bill is longer and proportionally 

 slenderer, and the faint, light superciliary line is better marked." 



As far as we can tell from the scanty material available, the molts 

 are apparently similar to those of the eastern winter wren. 



Food.—Yv^l^ and McAtee (1923) write: 



Of the 11 stomachs of Alaska wrens available 9 were examined some time 

 ago by less discriminating methods than those at present in use, and it is only 

 possible, therefore, to indicate the nature of the food in very general terms. 

 The sustenance was entirely animal and included the following groups : 



