[452-] BIRDS OF OREGON 



when a Dipper discovers a hatchery pond crowded to overflow by trout 

 fingerlings he helps himself. Who wouldn't if they liked such fare! 

 Stomach examinations have shown, however, that its bobbing and prob- 

 ing among the pebbles is to obtain aquatic insects and their larvae and 

 not baby trout. 



Wrens: Family Troglodytidae 



Western House Wren: 



Troglodytes aedon parkmani Audubon 



DESCRIPTION. "Upper parts dull brown, all but head barred with blackish; tail 

 coverts barred with black and whitish; under parts dingy, lightly barred. Length: 

 4.15-5.2.5, wing 1.02., tail 1.85, exposed culmen .49." (Bailey) Nest: A cavity in a 

 tree or about buildings, rilled with sticks and lined with feathers. Eggs: 5 to 7, 

 pinkish, thickly spotted with brown. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, 

 Manitoba, and northern Wisconsin south to Lower California, Arizona, Texas, and 

 Missouri. Winters south into Mexico. In Oregon: Regular summer resident and 

 breeding species throughout State. 



THE WESTERN HOUSE WREN (Plate 78, A) has been known from the Pacific 

 Northwest since Audubon (1839) described it from the Columbia River, 

 territory that was later identified as Vancouver, Washington. It did not 

 definitely appear in literature from the present territory of Oregon, how- 

 ever, until Bendire (1877) listed it as a common breeding bird at Camp 

 Harney, describing several odd nesting sites. Since that time it has been 

 found widely and may appear anywhere in the State as the same sort of 

 cheerful, inquisitive songster that is known farther east. Records are 

 available for every county except Columbia, Curry, Hood River, and 

 Morrow, and the absence of records there is unquestionably due merely 

 to lack of field work. The bird arrives in April (earliest date, April 8, 

 Sherman County) and remains until September (latest date, October i, 

 Multnomah County). It cannot be considered an abundant species, 

 though it does reach that status in some localities. It is common in some 

 parts of Lake and Harney Counties and becomes one of the really con- 

 spicuous songsters in Benton, Polk, and Yamhill Counties in the little 

 valleys between the oak-covered foothills of the Coast Ranges. We have 

 comparatively few egg dates. They extend from June 5 to July 5, a range 

 that could possibly be extended considerably by more field work. 



The eastern cousin of this species has been bitterly accused of destroy- 

 ing other small birds' nests and for that reason is under fire from bird 

 lovers. The Western House Wren is so comparatively scarce in Oregon, 

 however, that there would be no great cause for alarm over the safety 

 of the other small nesting species, even should it have a fondness for 

 breaking eggs. 



