3o6 THE SKA I'll. E \VREN\t 



.\t»r was it at all amiss for IVufcssor Uidgway. tlie I'liiiiK-m oniillmlogist 

 i)f W'asliiiigton. I >. C, Id name this bird in honor of the (Jucen City, for it is 

 in the immediate environs of the city, as well as in the niitidy wastes of half- 

 eon(|nered natnre, that the local I'.ewick Wren finds a congenial home. 

 hogged-olT tracts, slashings and hurned-over areas are, however, its es|)ecial 

 delight, and if the hird-man catches sight of one that has heen making the 

 ronnds of all the fire-hlackened stnmps in the neighlxirhood, he is ready to de- 

 clare a new snh-species on the strength of the bird's soiled gannents. N'o 

 junk-dealer knows the alleys of the metroiM.lis better than this crafty bird 

 knows the byways (»f his log-heaps and the intricate mazes of (ire-weed and 

 fern. If there is any unusual ai)i)earance or noise which gives promise of mis- 

 chief afoot, the Seattle Wren is the first to resixmd. Flitting, gliding, titter- 

 ing, the bird comes up and moves about the center of commotion, taking ob- 

 servations from all possible angles and making a running commentary thereon. 

 His attitude is alert and his movements vivacious, but the chief interest at- 

 taches to the bird's mobile tail. With this expressive luember the bird is alile 

 to converse in a vigorous sign language. It is cocked uj) in impudence, waggeil 

 in defiance, set aslant in c<K|uetry, or dejjressed in whimsical token of humility. 

 Indeed, it is hardly too much to say that the bird luakes faces with its tail. 



While spying along the lower levels the Wren giggles and chuckles an<l 

 titters, or else gives vent to a grating cry, iitoozccrp. which sets the wooils on 

 edge. But in song the bird oftcnest chooses an elevated station, an alder 

 sapling or the top of a sluiu)). Here, at short intervals and in most energetic 

 fashion, he delivers extended phrases of varied notes, now clear and sparkling, 

 now slurred or jiedalled. .\I>ove all. he is master of a set of smart trills. (Ine 

 of them, after three |)ieliminary notes, runs tsu' Isii' Isii' Isii' Isn' Isii'. like an 

 exaggerated and beautified song of the Towhee. .\nother song, which from 

 its ri>llicking diameter deserves to be called a drinking song, temiinates with 

 a brilliant trill in descending scale, raUcnIoiuUt rt dimimictulo, as tlio the little 

 minstrel were actually draining a beaker of dew. 



The Seattle Wren is altogether a hilarious i)ersonage; and in a country 

 where most song birds are overawed by the solemnity of the forest, it is well 

 enough to have one cheery wight to set all canons at defiance. Even the gray- 

 bearded old fir-stubs must laugh at a time over simic of the sallies of this rest- 

 less little zanv. The Wren does not indulge in conscious luimicry, but since 

 his art is self-taught, he is occasionally inilebted to the companions of the 

 woods for a theme. The Towhee motif is not uncommon in his songs, and the 

 sup]>osed notes of a Willow r.oldfimh. ;i liille off color, were tr.iceil to \\\< 

 door, at Blaine. 



Of the nesting Mr. I'.owles says: 'The building sites chosen by this 

 wren for its nests are so variable that hardly anything can lie considered typi- 

 cal. Ft max lie in the wildest swamjiy wood far removed froiu civilization, but 



