292 



5 YS TEMA TIC S YNOPSIS. — PA S SERES — OSCINES. 



Pig. 153. —Rock Wren 

 del. E. C.) 



size. (Ad. nat. 



SALPINC'XES. (Gr. a-akinyKT^s, salpigJctes, a trumpeter.) Rock Wrens. Bill about as 

 long as head, slender, compressed, straight at base, then slightly deourved, acute at tip, faintly- 

 notched. Nostrils conspicuous, scaled, in a large 

 fossa. Wing longer than tail ; exposed portion of 

 1st primary about half as long as 2d, which is de- 

 cidedly shorter than 3d. Tail rounded, of 12 broad 

 plane feathers, with rounded or subtruucate ends. 

 Feet small and weak ; tarsus longer than middle toe, 

 scutellate posteriorly. Hind toe and claw shorter 

 than middle one; lateral toes of unequal lengths, 

 outer longest, both very short ; tips of their claws 

 falling short of base of middle claw. Two species. 

 S. obsole'tus. (Lat. obsoletus, unaccustomed ; ob, 

 iuid soleo, I am wont; hence obsolete, effaced, the 

 coloration being dull and diffuse. Figs. 153, 154.) Rock Wren. ^ ? , adult : Upper parts 

 pale brownish-gray, minutely dotted with blackish and whitish points together, and usually 

 showing obsolete wavy bars of dusky. Rump cinnamon-brown ; a whitish superciliary line. 

 Beneath, soiled white, shading behind into pale cinnamon ; throat and breast obsoletely 

 streaked, and under tail-coverts barred, with dusky. Quills of wings rather darker than back, 

 with similar markings on outer webs. Middle 

 tail-feathers like back, with many dark bars 

 of equal width with the lighter ones ; lateral 

 tail-feathers similarly marked on outer webs, 

 plain on inner webs, with a broad subter- 

 minal black bar on both, and cinnamon- 

 trown tips, the latter usually marbled with 

 dusky; outer feathers with several blackish 

 and cinnamon bars on both webs. Bill and 

 feet dark horn color, the former paler at base 

 below. Length 5.50-6.00 ; wing 2.60-2.80 ; 

 tail 2.20-2.40; bill 0.66-0.75 ; "tarsus 0.75- 

 0.80. Most of the markings blended and 

 diffuse. Shade of upper parts variable, from 

 dull grayish to a more plumbeous shade, 

 often with a faint pinkish tinge. Specimens 

 in worn and faded plumage may fail to show -. - - 



the peculiar dotting with black and whitish ; „ _ „ u w 



but in these the cross-wise dusky undula- 

 tion, as well as the streaks on the breast, are commonly more distinct than in fresher-feathered 

 examples. The rufous tinge of the under parts is very variable in shade ; that of the rump, 

 however, being always well marked. Western U. S., and adjoining British provinces, W. to 

 the Pacific, E. to Iowa ; S. on the Mexican table-lands to Central America; breeds throughout 

 its range ; migratory in the U. S., except along the southern border ; common, haunting 

 rocky places, where it is conspicuous by its restlessness and loud notes ; nest of any rubbish in 

 a rocky nook ; eggs 5-8, of crystalline whiteness, sparsely sprinkled witli reddish-brown dots, 

 0.75 X 0.62. 



S. guaclalupen'sis. (Lat., inhabiting the island off the coast of L. California called in Spanish 

 Guadalupe, and not known by the French name of Guadeloupe.) Guadalupe Rock Wren. 

 Resembling the last ; darker colored, with more distinct speckling; wings and tail somewhat 

 shorter; bill and tarsi rather longer. Wing 2.50-2.70; tail 2.00-2.30; tarsus 0.80-0.90. 



