136 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



SaJpinctes obsoletiis. 



tains, having been found by Dr. Newbeny at Klamath Lake in Oregon. Dr. 

 Cooper does not describe their song, but Dr. Heermann speaks of it as only a 

 very weak trill. The latter met with them in the mountainous districts of 



California, where they were searching 

 for their food among the crevices of 

 the rocks. He afterwards met with 

 them in New Mexico and Texas. 

 They were quite abundant in tlie Te- 

 jon Valley, passing in and out, among 

 and under the boulders profusely scat- 

 tered over the mountains, searching 

 for spiders, worms, and small insects, 

 in pursuit of which they uttered at 

 intervals a loud and quick note of a 

 peculiarly thrilling character. Lieu- 

 tenant Couch found them in the sand- 

 stone ranges near Patos, in the province of Coahuila. Some of their habits 

 are spoken of as sparrow-like, and, while they have the usual wren-like 

 grating noises, they also possess a song of great variety and sweetness. 



Dr. Kennerly met witli them among the bushes in the vicinity of the IJio 

 Cirande. Their ilight he describes as short, the bird generally soon alighting 

 on the ground and running off very rapidly. 



This Wren was first discovered by Mr. Say near the Arkansas Eiver, inhalj- 

 iting a sterile district devoid of trees, hopping along the ground or Hitting 

 through the low, stunted junipers on the banks of the river, usually in small 

 liocks of five or six. Nuttall afterwards found them in July on the Western 

 Colorado. Tlie note of the female was charr-charr-tc-aigh, with a strong 

 guttural accent, and with a shrill call similar to the note of the Carolina 

 Wren. The old birds were feeding a brood of five young, whicli, tliough full 

 grown, were cherished with querulous assiduity. He found them nesting 

 among the rocky ledges, in the crevices of which they hide themselves 

 when disturbed. Mr. Nuttall also met with this species near Fort Van- 

 couver. Mr. Salvin states that in several instances it has been met with in 

 Guatemala. 



The eggs of this Wren obtained by Dr. Palmer in Arizona have a clear 

 white ground, sparingly spotted with well-defined, distinct dottings of brown- 

 ish-red. These are chiefly distributed around the larger end. They vary 

 somewhat in size and shape, some being of a more rounded form, though all 

 have one end more pointed than the other. The length is pretty uniform, 

 .77 of an inch. The breadth varies from .60 to .66 of an inch. They are 

 larger and more oblong than the eggs of any other Wren, except perhaps the 

 mexicanus, and bear little resemblance to any other eggs of this family with 

 which I am acquainted, except those of the Winter Wren, and the egg at- 

 tributed to T. amcricanus. 



