290 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Voice. — Comments on the musical quality of the rock wren's song 

 vary considerably, but, whether the song be harsh or melodious, it is 

 a delightful surprise when heard for the first time among the dreary, 

 uninhabited rocks, and a cheery note of welcome to the traveler where 

 he least expects to find a song bird. By contrast with its surroundings 

 it is doubly welcome, and perhaps its quality is overrated. Mrs. 

 Bailey (1902) gives it faint praise: "Even his song, which at first 

 hearing seems the drollest, most un-bird-like of machine-made tink- 

 lings, comes to be greeted as the voice of a friend on the desert, and 

 its quality to seem in harmony with the hard, gritty granites among 

 which he lives." And Mrs. Nice (1931) likewise says: "This absurd 

 little dweller on crags and boulders possesses a number of harsh, grat- 

 ing, curious vocalizations which are vastly appropriate to his environ- 

 ment. ^Keree Keree Keree' he says, ^Chair chair chair chair, Deedle 

 deedle deedle deedle, Tur twr tur tur, Keree keree keree trrrrrrrrrr\'''' 

 W. L. Dawson (Dawson and Bowles, 1909) , on the other hand, is more 

 appreciative, and says his song is "one of the sprightliest, most musi- 

 cal, and resonant to be heard in the entire West. The rock- wall makes 

 an admirable sounding-board, and the bird stops midway of what- 

 ever task to sing a hymn of wildest exultation. Whittier, lohittier, 

 whittier, is one of his finest strains ; while Ka-whee, ka-whee, ka-whee 

 is a sort of challenge which the bird renders in various tempo, and 

 punctuates with nervous bobs to enforce attention." Kalph Hoffmann 

 (1927) refers to "trills and sweet notes that suggest the perfect tech- 

 nique and joyous vigor of a Mockingbird. The volume is much less 

 and there is much less variety, ti-ou, ti-ou, ti-ou, ti-ou, is a common 

 strain, then perhaps flee flee flee, or cheep-oo cheep-oo cheep-oo, each 

 strain definite, and succeeded by another quite distinct with a change 

 of pitch. The call note, often given with an energetic bob, sounds like 

 tick-eary 



I might add that, to an easterner, the song sometimes suggests the 

 joyous spring song of the brown thrasher, with its series of couplets of 

 distinct syllables. 



Field marks. — ^The dull, grayish brown of the upperparts of the 

 rock wren blends well with its rocky surroundings, but when it flies 

 away from the observer and spreads its tail it shows its best field mark; 

 all tail feathers except the central pair are broadly tipped with buffy 

 white, and above that a subterminal band of black is very conspicuous. 

 The only bird with which it is likely to be compared in a somewhat 

 similar environment is the canyon wren, which has a conspicuous white, 

 unspotted throat and a rich chestnut abdomen ; its tail lacks the con- 

 spicuous terminal bands. In the rock wren the underparts are all dull 

 white, with dusky spots or streaks on the chest. 



Enemies. — Rockwell and Wetmore (1914) report that "a young Rock 

 Wren just old enough to fly was taken by hand because of its weakened 



