FLORIDA WREN 217 



distinct than in Ivdo vicianus ; size not significantly diii'erent from 

 T. I. euronotiLS but easily distinguished from that race on the basis of 

 its lighter coloration." 



Lowery gives the range of this wren as: "Eesident on the islands 

 lying well offshore from the Mississippi Coast ; known to occur on Cat 

 Island, Ship Island, and Horn Island. Not improbably it will be 

 found on certain of the islands off the Alabama and Louisiana coast 

 as well." 



THRYOTHORUS LUDOVICIANUS MIAMENSIS Ridgway 



FLORIDA WREN 



HABITS 



The Florida wren is a common resident in nearly all the Florida 

 peninsula, all but the northwestern part, or from Levy and Putnam 

 Counties southward, according to the 1931 Check-list. Mr, Lowery 

 (1940) does not subdivide this race but says that it is "typical from 

 Gainesville and Palatka southward." 



This is the largest and darkest of all the races. Eidgv^ay (1904) 

 describes it as "most like T. I. herlandieri^ but coloration still darker 

 and richer, and size much greater (decidedly larger than any other 

 form of the species) ; upper parts rich chestnut to dark chestnut, 

 the superciliary stripe decidedly buffy (except in worn summer 

 plumage) ; under parts (except chin and upper throat) deep clay 

 color or tawny-ochraceous, the flanks tinged with chestnut and 

 (sometimes also the sides) barred with chestnut or dusky." 



We found this wren everywhere that we went in Florida in the 

 live-oak and palmetto hammocks, in the swamps, and in dense thickets 

 in the river bottoms, singing more or less all winter and more often 

 heard than seen. We found no nests, but Mr. Howell (1932) says 

 that "the nests are placed on the ground in the woods, often under- 

 neath an overhanging bank, in hollow logs or stumps, or sometimes on 

 the sill of an outbuilding, or in a box or can within the building. The 

 breeding season extends from March to July, and two or more broods 

 are raised each season." 



C. J. Maynard (1896) says: 



The usual situations chosen by the wrens on Indian River were at the bottoms 

 of the "boots" of the palmettoes. The "boot" is the base of the dead leaf stalks 

 which adhere to the tree after the top has decayed and fallen off, they are quite 

 broad, slightly concave, and extend upward in an oblique direction leaving a 

 space between them and the trunk; the fronds in falling often cover the top 

 with a fibrous debris which is imijervious to water and the cavities beneath form 

 a snug nesting place for the Carolina Wrens. Many more nests will be found in 

 these situations than elsewhere, especially in the wilderness; but I once found 

 one built between two palmetto leaves which liad dropped over in such a position 

 that their surfaces were horizontal and only three or four inches apart, forming 

 a floor as well as a roof for the home of the Wrens. They had conveyed a lai-ge 

 amount of suitable material into this place and formed a cozy domicile. The 



