204 



THE OOLOGIST 



Cerulean Warbler, very common. 



Kentucky Warbler, fairly common 

 in woods. 



Maryland Yellow-throat, very com- 

 mon. 



Yellow-breasted Chat, very com- 

 mon. 



American Redstart, very common. 



Mockingbird, a few in towns and 

 city. 



Catbird, a few in brushy woods. 



Brown Thrasher, fairly common. 



Carolina Wren, very common. 



Bewick's Wren, a few. 



White-breasted Nuthatch, very com- 

 mon in woods. 



Tufted Titmouse, very common. 



Carolina Chickadee, very common. 



Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, commonest 

 woods nesting bird. 



Wood Thrush, common some years. 



American Robin, a few nesting in 

 towns. 



Bluebird, common. 



Albert J. Kirn 



Some Western Birds — Cactus Wren. 



One of the most interesting exhibits 

 at the Museum of History, Science and 

 Art of Los Angeles County is a life 

 group of the Cactus Wren (Heleodytes 

 brunneicapillus couesi). Attractively 

 arranged in a glass case, the group is 

 intended to represent a section of the 

 desert which the bird inhabits. "Grow- 

 ing" from the sand is a large cholla 

 cactus bearing a typical nest of the 

 Cactus Wren, while on its thorny 

 branches are perched a well-mounted 

 pair of the birds. 



Eastern visitors whose acquaintance 

 with the Wren family is confined to 

 the small members of the genus Trog- 

 lodytes are struck at once by the large 

 size of Heleodytes. From eight to 

 nearly nine inches in length, the bird 

 has more the appearance of a thrasher 

 than of a wren, and is indeed the con- 

 pecting link between the two. The 



under parts with the exception of the 

 brown belly are white with heavy 

 black spots; the upper parts are brown 

 with black and white streaking down 

 the back; the middle tail feathers are 

 brown, the rest black except that the 

 outer ones are barred with white. The 

 head is brown with a white supercil- 

 iary stripe over the eye. 



The range is confined to the deserts 

 of southern California, Nevada, Utah, 

 Arizona, New Mexico and Texas south 

 to the northern parts of Mexico and 

 Lower California. Farther south is 

 found the Bryants Cactus Wren 

 (Heleodytes brunneicapillus bryanti). 

 The birds are usually resident wher- 

 ever found except that in the northern- 

 parts of their range they are more or 

 less migratory. In Los Angeles Coun- 

 ty they are found in decidedly smaller 

 numbers throughout the winter than 

 in the summer. 



The breeding season here is from 

 early April to late June; in southern 

 Arizona they raise two and three 

 broods a season and I have found 

 eggs there late in August. 



The nesting-site is usually located 

 in cactus, yucca or mesquite; some- 

 times in trees such as elder-berry and 

 live oak. The average height from 

 the ground is about four feet. The 

 nests are high types of bird-architec- 

 ture usually placed horizontally with 

 the entrance but slightly elevated, 

 measuring from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in length and seven to nine 

 inches thick at the greatest diameter. 

 The materials used are sticks, coarse 

 dry grass, weeds, etc. The reddish 

 tendrils of the plant known as fire- 

 weed are used extensively whenever 

 obtainable. Cosily lined with feathers, 

 the nests afford ample shelter from 

 sun, rain and wind. A number of 

 dummy nests are built in the neighbor- 

 hood of the real one; these are kept in 

 repair during the winter and serve as 



