552 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YOSEMITE 



between being 5 or 6 seconds in duration. Chr, chr, chr, trr, ter, eche, 

 eche, eche, were some of the 'words' in the song of this particular bird. 

 The whole effort reminds one of the rambling song of the California 

 Thrasher, but it is of much higher pitch. 



No nest was found by us; but at Pleasant Valley on May 17, 1915, a 

 pair of these wrens was seen carrying food beneath a large boulder near 

 the Merced River. A bird observed in the same general locality on May 23 

 was similarly engaged, so the nesting season was probably at its height 

 at this time. A family of young was seen abroad on a schist-like outcrop 

 near Merced Falls on May 28, 1915. 



Dotted Canon Wren. Catherpes mexicanus punctulatus Ridgway 



Field characters. — Size more than half that of Junco; tail shorter than body; bill 

 long {% inch) and slender. Coloration rich reddish brown; throat and chest clear white. 

 (See pi. 53c.) Executes squatting movement every few seconds, by which white of 

 throat area is emphasized. Voice : Song a series of ten or so loud clear whistled notes, 

 the pitch descending and the timing faster toward end of series; call note a short, hoarse 

 bzert. 



Occurrence. — Resident in fair numbers from Lower Sonoran Zone up through Tran- 

 sition on west side of Sierra Nevada.37 Recorded from near Snelling and Lagrange 

 eastward through Yosemite Valley, and, in late summer, to Merced Lake. Chiefly on and 

 about rock walls of the larger caiions. Solitary. 



One usually gets his first knowledge of the Dotted Canon Wren through 

 hearing its clear, musical song from high up on the wall of some canon. 

 In Yosemite Valley the notes of the song are often to be heard coming 

 from the surrounding cliffs, dominating all other sounds because of 

 their remarkable carrying power. Only persistent observation will bring 

 acquaintance with the bird itself. The emphatic bobbing movement of 

 the body, the rich browni coloration, and the strong contrast between the 

 pure white throat and chest (pi. 53c) and the dark body render this wren, 

 when once within view, easy to recognize both as distinct from the members 

 of its own tribe and from other song birds in general. 



The species is common in the lower caiion of the Merced River, from 

 Pleasant Valley to El Portal. Some individuals also live about the earth 

 bluffs and rock outcrops near Merced Falls, and others dwell on the glacier- 

 scoured walls of the Yosemite Valley. A few venture even into the lower 

 Tenaya Canon and the Little Yosemite. Finally, several birds were noted 

 by us in the vicinity of Merced Lake, well within the Canadian Zone, 

 August 23 to September 1, 1915. Whether these latter had nested at so 



37 The Canon Wren has been reported from the vicinity of Mono Lake by Dr. W. K. 

 risher (1902, pp. 7, 11), who saw one or more of the birds there in September, 1901. 

 None was seen by either of our field parties which visited that region in the fall of 1915 

 and the spring and summer of 1916. In the absence of specimens the subspecies repre- 

 sented on the east side remains in doubt. 



