THE WESTERN HOUSE WREN. 307 



it is quite as likely to be found in a house in tlie lieart of a city. A few of the 

 nesting sites I liave recorded arc in upliuncd rnois of fallen trees, deserted 

 woodpecker holes, in bird boxes in the city, in a fishing creel hanging on a 

 P'jrcii, under a slab of Ijark tliat lias scaled away a few inches from the body 

 of a tree, or an open nesl Iniilt un a beam under a liridge. 



"A very complete study of this wren has conx'inced me that it ne\'er builds 

 any nests except those used in raising the young. In other words, it is the only 

 wren in the Xorthvvest that is positi\'ely guiltless of using 'decoys". 



"In constructing the nest these birds do not often take over ten days, in 

 which proceeding the female does all the work. One pair, however, that I 

 visited occasionally, were over a month in completing a small nest in the 

 natural cavity of a stump. No explanation of this seems possible, exce])t that 

 the female was not ready to lay her eggs any sooner. 



"The nest is a rather slight affair, as a rule, the average nest containing 

 much less material than that of any other wren that I have seen. It is com- 

 posed of fine dried grass, skeleton leaves, green moss, wool, and very rarely 

 has a basis of twigs, with a lining of hair, the cast skins of snakes, and many 

 feathers. 



"A set contains from foiu' to six eggs, most commonly fi\-e. These are 

 pure white in ground color, marked with fine dots of reddish brown. The 

 markings are variable in distribution, some specimens being marked \ery spar- 

 ingly over all, while in others the markings are largely concentrated around the 

 larger end in the form of a more or less confluent ring. The eggs are rather 

 short ovate oval in shape, ruid a\eragc in measurements .68 x .54 inches. 



"Two broods are reared in a season; or perhaps it would l)e more correct 

 to say that fresh eggs ma\- be found at any time between tlie middle of A])ril 

 and the middle of June. 



"Altho rather tiun'd in the \'icinity of her nest, the female generally 

 remains on her eggs luitil disturbed by a jar or some loud noise. She then 

 disappears and neither bird appears nor makes any complaint in olijcction 

 to the intruder." 



No. 119. 



WESTERN HOUSE WREN. 



A. O. U. No. 721a. Trojtiodytes aedon parkmanii (Aud.). 

 Synonyms. — P.ark.m.xn's Wrkn. P.vcific IIoiSK Wrkn. 

 Description. — Adult: MiO\'C, grayish rufous-brown, duller and lighter on 

 foreparts; brighter and more rufous on rump, which has concealed downy white 



