THE WESTERN WINTER Y 



%E 



N. 



Ill wiiiiir, because ut lieavy snows, tlie binls appear to retire li> a large 

 extent upon the valleys and lowlands, n<»r <lo they a|)])ear t<j rcoccui»y the 

 mountain forests until they have reared a first bnxxl upon the lower levels, 

 just how familiar a species this bird is at sea level docs not aj)i)ear U> be gen- 

 erally realized. In the s])ring of 1905 1 estimated tliat forty |)airs were nest- 

 ing in Ua\enna Park 

 alone. Nor do they 

 by any means desert 

 the lowlands in toto 

 in summer, for they 

 arc seen regularly at 

 that season ihniout 

 Puget Sound, uim^ii 

 tile islands of Wash- 

 ington Sound, and 

 upon the West Coast. 

 It is the Winter 

 Wren, chiefly, which 

 gladdens the depths 

 of the ancient forest 

 with music. Partly 

 because of its unique 

 is(3lation. but more 

 because of the joy- 

 ous abandon of the 

 little singer, the song 

 of the Winter Wren 

 strikes the bird -lover 

 as being one of the 

 most refreshing in 

 the Northwest. It 

 consists of a rapid 

 scries of gurgling 

 notes and wanton 

 trills, not very loud 

 nor of great variety, 

 but having all the 

 spontaneity of bub- 

 bling water, a liny cascade of song in a waste of silence. The song 

 comes always as an outburst, as tho some mechanical obstructi<in had 

 given way before the ])ent-up music. Indeal. one bird I heard at .Moclips 

 preceded his song with a series of tittering notes, which struck me 



A TIIICKKT I.V K.W KN.NA I'AKK, 



ICII HM.V Tlie UlNTCt URKN WILL ExrLXIIF.. 



