196 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



leaned against the wall. In all cases the feathers of the rump were 

 greatly ruffed out, showing the subterminal white spots. 



Voice. — The various call notes of Vigors's wren are apparently about 

 the same as those of the eastern Bewick's wren ; the song is similar, 

 certainly not inferior, and is said to show more versatility. Mr. Mil- 

 ler (1941) says that "the songs of the wrens in Arizona, Texas, and 

 northeastern Mexico differ noticeably from those of wrens along the 

 coast of California. The songs of spllvrus and inarinensis are con- 

 siderably more complex and varied" than those of the others. He 

 says further : 



Ouly the males sing. Males, at least of the race spilnrns, do not sing through- 

 out the year ; they cease for a month or two in late autuum. * * * Wrens in 

 Strawberry Canyon generally perch on the outer small twigs near the top of a 

 tree or bush. * * * I once saw a wren singing from four different perches in 

 two minutes. Most of the wrens I have observed sing in about the following 

 position : feet spread wide apart, tail horizontal, bill tilted slightly upward, wing 

 tips a little beyond the body and a little below the level of the base of the tail. 

 * * * Most authors speak of the tail hanging down in the manner of a 

 thrasher, but I have not seen them sing in this posture more than with the tail 

 horizontal, and I have even seen the tail erect during singing. 



Mrs. Amelia S. Allen says in her notes : "During the last week of 

 July and throughout August, when most birds are silent, the Vigors 

 wrens sing a very subdued song. After watching them for many 

 years, I have come to the conclusion that the birds of the year begin 

 to sing at that time. By the middle of September the full song is 

 heard." 



Winter. — At this season, Vigors's wrens, and probably others of the 

 California races, are more widely distributed. Ralph Hoffmann (1927) 

 says that "in the fall many Bewick Wrens move down from the 

 chaparral slopes and inhabit shrubbery near habitations, though some 

 stay in the canyons all winter. * * * The Bewick Wren in winter 

 frequents the same places in the lowland which the House Wren 

 occupies in summer; occasionally both are present at the same time." 



These fall and winter wanderings, not strictly migrations, carry the 

 wrens quite down to the coast in suitable places, such as the Point Lobos 

 Reserve on the coast of Monterey County, where the bird is almost 

 unknown in summer. Here, according to Grinnell and Linsdale 

 (1936), they were seen in "considerable numbers" all through winter, 

 becoming common in September. They w^ere seen foraging in the 

 lower branches of cypresses and pines, in the brush and grass, and 

 on the ground among lupine and sage bushes. Other types of winter 

 habitat were a "blackberry tangle along a fence; dead and living 

 ceanothus on south-facing, chaparral-covered slope; thicket of live 

 oak in low mat around base of pine; brush of buckwheat, monkey 

 flower, sage, baccharis, and poison oak ; and low horehound mats." 



