Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 183 



iana Water-Thrush, they are unmistakably those of the CaroUna 

 Wren. 



The eggs are four to six in number, generally five, while six 

 is exceptional. They are white or pinkish white, speckled and 

 spotted with different shades of reddish brown and lilac shell 

 markings. They measure .75X.56. 



The Carolina Wren sings all through the spring and summer, 

 and during warm weather in winter its sweet notes can be heard 

 occasionally. This species is of inestimable value to the agri- 

 culturist since its food consists of insects and their larvae. 



285. Thryomanes bewickii (Aud.). Bewick's Wren. 



The credit of having first detected this species in South Caro- 

 lina is doubtless due to the late Dr. R. W. Gibbes of Columbia. 

 He sent a specimen to Bachman, who is quoted by Audubon in 

 Birds of America,^ as follows: 



"A specimen of this bird was sent me from Columbia in South Carolina, pro- 

 cured by Dr. Gibbs [Gibbes], and I have no doubt it will be found on the whole 

 range of our southern mountains." 



This prediction by Bachman has been fulfilled, for Mr. Loomis 

 found Bewick's Wren breeding "at the foot of Mt. Pinnacle"^ 

 and on Caesar's Head,^ while as low down as Chester county it 

 is resident.* 



On October 16, 1907, I saw and positively identified a bird 

 of this species as it rested for about a minute in a live oak tree, 

 which was within sixty feet of a negro house, situated on Oak- 

 land plantation, Christ Church Parish, but failed to secure it 

 as it flew into a dense thicket of weeds, briars, and bushes. There 

 was no mistake in the identification, as the long, fan-shaped tail 

 was diagnostic ; besides, it was not the first Bewick's Wren I had 

 seen alive for I found this species in positive abundance at Wau- 

 keenah, Florida, in 1894.' 



My friend, Mr. Herbert Ravenel Sass, secured a specimen at 

 the Navy Yard, within six miles of Charleston, on October 17 

 of the same year." This specimen is the first that has ever been 

 taken in the low coast region of the State, the bird being confined 

 almost exclusively to the Alpine, Piedmont, and upper counties, 



> II, 121. ^Auk, VII, 1890, 130. ' Ibid, VIII, 1891, 333. 



4 See Ibid, VIII, 1891, 172. » See Ibid, XII, 1895, 367. 



« See Bull. Chas. Mus. Ill, 1907, 54; and Auk, XXV, 1908, 87. This specimen is now 

 in the collection of the Charleston Museum (Spec. No. 7030).— Ed. 



