1116 Report of State Geologist. 



laid March 29. Tlie bird began sitting March 30: four eggs were 

 hatched April 11, and the young left the nest April 25. 



Mr. G. R. King informs me of a pair that two successive years nested 

 in the -svinter in a box beneath a shed adjoining his drug store in 

 Brookville. Both years he examined the nest. They had four eggs 

 about December 1, 1895. The same site had been used the three 

 preceding springs. 



The Carolina Wren has several songs. It is a noisy bird at all 

 times of the year, and one or another of its efforts may be heard any 

 day that is bright and cheerful, and even at times when the clouds are 

 dark and lowering this energetic little fellow would whistle good 

 cheer into one's cheerless feelings. 



Kurs-t is its common exclamation. Whee-o-now, whee-o-now, or Jew- 

 Pet-er, Jew-Pet-er, may give some idea of the elements of its best- 

 known song. This bears some resemblance to the song of the Mary- 

 land Yellow-throat. It also has a rendering with four notes, which a 

 little boy once interpreted: "Mck-'er moth-er, hick-'er mother." 

 Again, its notes seem to say, sweet-heart, sweet-heart, reminding one 

 somewhat of the louder whistling of the Cardinal. He is Just as active 

 as he is tuneful, and will not stay long in the neighborhood without 

 making himself known. A large part of the food of this bird is insects 

 and spiders. It searches logs, stumps, fences, among the bushes of 

 gardens and yards, wood piles, outbuildings, everywhere diligently 

 looking for insects. Mr. E. R. Quick told me of a pair of the birds 

 that frequented his premises a few winters ago and became very tame. 

 In January he was splitting some hone^ locust logs and the Wrens, 

 which sat within three feet of him, would hop down among the sticks 

 when they were split and pick out the larvae that infested them. 



Subgenus Thryomanes Sclater. 



*299. (719). Thryothorus bewickii (Aud.). 



Bewick's "Wren. 

 Synonyms, Long-tailed House Wren, Long-tailed Wren. 



Adult. — Above, dark cinnamon-brown; tail, long, middle feathers, 

 grayish, barred with black; outer feathers, black, marked with whitish; 

 rump, with concealed white spots; secondaries only, barred with black; 

 line over the eye, white; below, ashy. 



Length, 5.00-5.50; wing, 2.05-2.25; tail, 2.10-2.40. 



Range. — Eastern United States, from Texas and Georgia to eastern 

 Kansas, eastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, southern Michigan, 

 soiTthem Ohio. Rare east of the Alleghanies, where it occurs north 



