132 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus. Okay. 



CACTUS WBEH. 



I'imlapfrs hnnnifirapilhts, I.afrf.sxaye, Ma|;. de Zool. 1835, 61, pi. xl .i. — Lawr. Ann. 

 X. Y. Ly(. Y, ISal, 114. — (Assiv, Hirds I'al. Tox. 18.54, 1;'.(5, pi. xxv. — Hkkkmann', 

 J. A. N. So. II, 18.'.3, 263. C. hrunnckapiUus, (Jray, Genera, I, 1847, 159. — Bp. 

 Consp. 1S.50, 223. — i>( L. P. A. N. S. 1.56, 264. — Baiud, Birds N. Am. 1858, 355 : 

 Pr. Phil. Acad. 1851», 3, etc. ; Rev. 99. — Hef.r.mann, P. R. R. X, 1859. — Duessek, 

 ll»is, 1865, 482 (Texas). — Cdopek, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, dl. 



Sp. Chah. Bill as lonj; us the head. Above brown ; darkest on the liead, whieh is 

 unspotted. Feathers on the baik streaked eentrally with white. Beneath whiti.sh, tinj^ed 

 with rusty on the belly ; tiie leathers of the throat and upper parts, and under tail-coverts, 

 with larire. rounded black spots; those of the remain in jj: inider parts with smaller, more 

 linear ones, rhin and line over the eye whit*\ Tail-feathers black beneath, barre<l subter- 

 Uiinallv (the outer one throujrhotit) with white. Iris, redilish-yellow. Len«,'th, 8 inches; 

 win<r, 3.40 ; tail, 3..V). 



Hab. Adjacent borders of the T'"nited iStates and Mexico, from the mouth of the Rio 

 Crande to the Valley of the C't»lorado, ;». d to the Pacitic coast of Southern California. 

 Replaced at Cajie St. Lucas by C. ojfiuis. 



This species is fouiul abundantly along the line of the Iiio Orande and 

 Gila, extending northward some distance, and everywhere conspicuous by 

 its wren-like habits and enormous nest. 



Habits. The Brown-headed Creeper is a comparatively recent addition 



to the fauna of the United States, 

 but aj)pears to Ikj common along 

 the southwestern borders of the 

 United States, from the valley of 

 the liio (Jrande to San Diego, in 

 Ualifornia. In Lower C^alifornia 

 it is rejdaced by the C. ajfinis. 



It was first added to our avi- 

 fauna by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, 

 on the strength of a specimen 

 obtained in Texas by Captain 

 McCown. 



Dr. Heermann, in his paper on 

 the Birds of California, speaks 

 of linding it in the arid country l»ack of (Juymas, on the Gidf of Cali- 

 fornia. This country, presenting only broken surfaces and a confused 

 mass of volcanic rocks, covered by a scanty vegetation of thorny bushes 

 and cacti, among other interesting birds, was found to contain this species 

 in abundance. He describes it as a lively, sprightly species, uttering, at 

 intervals, clear, loud, ringing notes. Its nest, composed of grasses and lined 

 with feathers, was in the shape of a long purse, enormous for the size of the 

 bird, and laid Hat between the forks or on the branches of a cactus. Tlie 



Camjr'lorhynchus brunneicuinllus. 



