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WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 279 
the nest, and then the crops of the young plainly indicated 
a stronger diet. By regurgitation in a case like this, I 
mean that the adults masticated the food and carried it 
in their own gular pouch, or crop, to the young. During 
the last few days that the young Wrens spent in the nest 
the doorway was full of little brown heads most of the 
time, and the mother no longer went inside to feed them. 
She still slept in the nest with them, however, and each 
night there was a struggle for supremacy between the 
nestlings who wished to look out and the mother who 
tried to get in. Finally, one morning when she emerged, 
it seemed as if the cork had popped from a bottle allow- 
ing the contents to escape, for two of the youngsters 
darted out close behind her, and two more peeped from 
the doorway. Except for smaller, plumper form and 
softer coloring, they were exact counterparts of the 
adults, and they possessed the nervous activity of their 
family. 
715. ROCK WREN. — Salpinctes obsoletus. 
Famity: The Wrens, Thrashers, ete. 
Length: 5.12-6.35. 
Adults: Upper parts grayish brown, more or less speckled with dusky 
and white dots ; rump light brown; tail tipped with buffy brown and 
with subterminal band of black ; middle dusky ; under parts dull 
whitish ; flank tinged with pale cinnamon; chest usually finely 
speckled ; under tail-coverts barred with blackish. 
Young: Upper parts plain rusty-gray ; under parts whitish on throat and 
breast, brownish on flanks and under tail-coverts. 
Geographical Distribution: Arid regions of Western United States, east 
to the Great Plains, south to Mexico, north to British Columbia. 
California Breeding Range: Locally throughout the State, chiefly east 
of the humid coast belt. Recorded from the Farallones. 
