132 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Campylorhynclms brnnneicapillus, Gray. 



CACTUS WREN. 



Picolaptes hrunneicapillus, Lafresnate, Mag. de Zool. 1835, 61, pi. xlvii. — Lawr. Ann. 

 N. Y. Lye. V, 1851, 114. — Cassin, Birds Cal. Te.x. 1854, 156, pi. xxv. — Heekmaxx, 

 J. A. N. Sc. II, 1853, 263. C. brunneicapilhcs, Gray, Genera, I, 1847, 159. — Bp. 

 Consp. 1850, 223. — Scl. P. A. N. S. 156, 264. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 355 ; 

 Pr. Phil. Acad. 1859, 3, etc. ; Eev. 99. — Heermann, P. R. E. X, 1859. —Dresser, 

 11ns, 1865, 482 (Texas). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 61. 



Sp. Char. Bill as long as the head. Above brown ; darkest on the head, which is 

 unspotted. Feathers on the back streaked centrally with white. Beneath whitish, tinged 

 with rusty on the belly ; the feathers of the throat and upper parts, and under tail-coverts, 

 with large rounded black spots; those of the remaining under parts with smaller, more 

 hnear ones. Chin and line over the eye white. Tail-feathers black beneath, barred subter- 

 minally (the outer one throughout) with white. Iris, reddish-yellow. Length, 8 inches; 

 wing, 3.40 ; tail, 3.55. 



Hab. Adjacent borders of the United States and Mexico, from the mouth of the Rio 

 C-rande to the Valley of the Colorado, and to the Pacific coast of Southern California. 

 Replaced at Cape St. Lucas by C. affinis. 



This species is found abundantly along the line of the Rio Grande and 

 Gila, extending northward some distance, and everywhere conspicuous by 

 its wren-like habits and enormous nest. 



Habits. The Brown-headed Creeper is a comparatively recent addition 



to the fauna of the United States, 

 but appears to be common along 

 tlie southwestern borders of the 

 United States, from the valley of 

 the Rio Grande to San Diego, in 

 California. In Lower California 

 it is replaced by the C. affinis. 



It was first added to our avi- 

 fauna by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, 

 on the strength of a specimen 

 obtained in Texas by Captain 

 McCown. 



Dr. Heermann, in his paper on 

 the Birds of California, speaks 

 of finding it in the arid country back of Guymas, on the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia. . This country, presenting only broken surfaces and a confused 

 mass of volcanic rocks, covered by a scanty vegetation of thorny bushes 

 and cacti, among other interesting birds, was found to contain this species 

 in abundance. He describes it as a lively, sprightly species, uttering, at 

 intervals, clear, loud, ringing notes. Its nest, composed of grasses and lined 

 with feathers, was in the shape of a long purse, enormous for the size of the 

 bird, and laid flat between the forks or on the branches of a cactus. Tlie 



CampyloThynchus bninnt 



