CAROLINA WREN 205 



THRYOTHORUS LUDOVICIANUS LUDOVICIANUS (Latham) 



CAROLINA WREN 



Plates 37, 38 



HABITS 



In attempting to compile the life histories of the wrens of this species, 

 I have not overlooked and shall not attempt to criticize a recent import- 

 ant paper on the geographical variation in the Carolina wren by George 

 H. Lowery, Jr. (1940), in which he splits the species into eight sub- 

 species, one of which is Mexican. This makes a rather large addition 

 to the three races now recognized in our 1931 Check-list. Doubtless 

 some of his races, perhaps all of them, are worthy of recognition in 

 nomenclature. But, as the author does not claim to be a systematic 

 ornithologist, it seems best for a work of this kind to follow the nomen- 

 clature and classification of the latest Check-list, as has been done in 

 previous volumes. 



I have always associated the Carolina wren with the sunny South, one 

 of that happy trio of birds that are always ready to greet the northern 

 bird lover with their loud cheery songs as he travels southward ; the 

 songs of this wren, the tufted titmouse, and the cardinal have enough 

 in common to confuse a newcomer when he hears them for the first time, 

 but they are really different when carefully studied ; however, they are 

 all delightful and give us a warm touch of southern hospitality, a 

 hearty welcome to Dixie Land. 



But we cannot now regard the Carolina wren as exclusively a south- 

 ern bird, for it seems to have been extending its range northward during 

 the early part of the present century. The 1931 Check-list gave as the 

 probable northern limits of its range "southeastern Nebraska, southern 

 Iowa, Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, and lower Hudson and Connec- 

 ticut valleys" and called it "casual or accidental in Wisconsin, Michi- 

 gan, Ontario, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts." Dr. 

 Charles W. Townsend (1909) has published an interesting paper on 

 what he calls an invasion of this wren into New England, giving a large 

 number of records for various States ; most of these are fall and winter 

 records, but there are enough breeding records mentioned to indicate 

 that the Carolina wren may be regarded as a rare breeding bird in at 

 least southern New England. It has long been known to breed on 

 Naushon Island, off the coast of southern Massachusetts; Forbush 

 (1929) mentions several other Massachusetts breeding records, and 

 lOiight (1908) records a breeding record for Maine. 



Dr. Chapman (1912) says of the haunts of the Carolina wren : "The 

 cozy nooks and corners about the home of man which prove so attractive 

 to the House Wren are less commonly chosen by this bird. His wild 



