WRENS 



189 



liousehold eccentricities. It nests in a rocky 

 crevice. It often makes a path into the nest. 

 ".And when it comes to lining the approaches of 

 .the chosen cavity, what do you suppose they 

 use?" says Mr. \\'. L. Pawson. " Why, rocks, 

 of course ; not large ones this time, but flakes 

 and pebbles of basalt, which rattle pleasantly 

 every time the bird goes in and out. These rock- 

 chips are sometimes an inch or more in diameter, 

 and it is difficult to conceive how a bird with 

 such a delicate beak can compass their removal. 

 Here they are, however, to the quantity of half 



mind with the sand and the sage. I have often 

 seen him in the arid desert regions of eastern 

 Oregon. The first time 1 ever saw him. I 

 recognized him instantlv bv his general \\ ren 

 character. He is generally appreciated, for he 

 is often seen where songsters are rather scarce. 

 /\.s Airs. Bailey says, " Even his song, which at 

 first hearing seems the drollest, most unbird-like 

 of machine-made tinklings, comes to be greeted 

 as the voice of a friend in the desert, and its 

 quality to seem in harmony with the hard, gritty 

 granites in which he lives. Its phrases are 

 varied, but one of its commonest — given [)er- 





Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



ROCK WREN ( i nat. size) 

 elcome sign of cheerful Ufe in the torrid western canons 



a pint or more, and they are just as nuich a 

 necessity to every well-regulated .Salpinctean 

 household as marble steps are to Philadel- 

 phians." 



The Rock \\'ren is typical of the rimrock 

 regions of the West. He is associated in inv 



hajis from the top of a clifif while his mate is 

 feeding their brood on a ledge below — is little 

 more than a harsh kra-zi.'cCj kra-ivec. kra-wcc, 

 km-7ccc, given slowly at first, then after a little 

 bob repeated in faster time." 



William L. Fi.xley. 



CAROLINA WREN 



Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus {Latham) 



-\ n. l\ XumhcT ;i8 



Other Names.— Mocking Wren; Great Carolina 

 Wren : Louisiana Wren. 



General Description. — Length, 5'_' inches. Upper 

 parts, rnsty-brown ; under parts, liuffy-white. Bill, 



See Color ri.ite lOj 



shorter than head, slightly but decidedly curved down- 

 ward ; wings, rather short and rounded ; tail, about 4/5 

 length of wing, rounded, the feathers broadly rounded 

 at the tip. 



