W R E N - T I T S : Family Chamaeidae [ 449 ] 



taken at Forest Grove, November 13, 1912., as of this race but considered 

 the bulk of the birds at Eugene to be C. f. Delates. This is somewhat at 

 variance with our present-day concept of the two forms. From our 

 specimens taken at Portland, Sauvies Island, Newberg, Netarts, Crater 

 National Forest, Jackson County, and Bolan Mountain, Josephine Coun- 

 ty, this is the bird of the Coast Ranges and the lowlands between those 

 ranges and the Cascades. On the western slope of this latter range, the 

 two merge and some specimens are intermediates that cannot be satis- 

 factorily placed in either race. 



Braly took a nest at North Plains, Washington County, May 6, 1932., 

 containing five eggs, and one at McMinnville, May 7, 1933, containing 

 six eggs. Currier (ms.) furnished the following notes: 



June 2.4, 1917, nest and four eggs, St. Johns. Twenty feet up on side of fir tree 18 inches in 

 diameter at nest. Birds seen building June i8th and on. Left the nest today as I started up. 

 Nest looped in behind a loose strip of bark with much material hanging out at both sides. 

 Outside nest of coarse outer bark of cedar with several balls of spider web worked in inner 

 nest a beautiful felted mass of inner cedar bark. Eggs fresh and clear. 



He also found a nest containing six eggs, May i, 1932., and one with five 

 young, May 2.5, 1933, both in Washington County. 



Wren- tits: family Chamaeidae 



Coast Wren-tit: 



Chamaea fasciata phaea Osgood 



DESCRIPTION. Upper parts dark brown becoming sooty on head; under parts dark 

 ruddy brown, indistinctly streaked with dusky. Si%e: Length (skins) 5.59-6.10, 

 wing 2.. 2.4-2.. 31, tail 1.95-3.15, bill .41-. 47. Nest: Usually in low bushes, made 

 of twigs, straw, and grass, mixed with feathers. Eggs: 3 to 5, pale greenish blue. 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Humid coast slope of Oregon from Astoria to California 

 line. In Oregon: Permanent resident along entire coast. 



THE COAST WREN-TIT, with its long tail and loud clear song, is distinctly 

 a bird of the seashore, never wandering far from the salt water, and is 

 much more often heard than seen. The dark brown of its coat blends 

 admirably with the shadows of the lowlands that it frequents, and its 

 mouselike habits add to the difficulty of sighting the author of those 

 bell-like notes that Mrs. Bailey has phrased as keep-keep-keep-keep-keep-it 

 keep-it keep-it. This song, combined with the elusiveness of the bird, 

 makes this Wren-tit one of the distinctive avian personalities of our coast. 

 At Astoria, at the extreme northern point of its range, the Coast Wren- 

 tit is a common bird. Gabrielson has on several occasions heard as many 

 as six singing males in the residential section of town. The bird is equally 

 abundant along the coast to the California line. Perhaps it has increased 



