486 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Haunts and habits. The Winter wren delights in rocks and brush 

 heaps and rubbish in the wildest portions of the mountains and higher 

 valleys, along the edges of the dashing torrents, and in the silent depths 

 of the forest, as well as the moss-covered logs and rocks of the humid slopes. 

 The song, as it appeals to Bicknell, has an indescribable effect, " full of 

 trills and runs and grace notes, a tinkling, rippling roundelay." The 

 young men from Rochester mentioned in the Essex county list who helped 

 me in my bird survey of the Mt Marcy district, voted unanimously that 

 the song of the Winter wren was the sweetest melody they heard in the 

 North Woods, and we gave considerable time to the study of the songs 

 of the Hermit, Olive-backed, Bicknell and Wood thrushes. Besides its 

 song, the Winter wren has a sharp chirp of surprise, and a " quip-quap" 

 as Chapman writes it, while he bobs and bows to one and hops about 

 the fallen log or the brush pile which he frequents as a retreat from his 

 enemies. 



The nesting site is usually in the upturned roots of some fallen tree 

 or in the cavity of a stump or log. The nest is composed of plant stems, 

 mosses and lichens, with a small circular opening, lined with moss, hair 

 and feathers. The eggs are 5 to 8 in number, white in ground color, finely 

 dotted with reddish brown and lavender. They average .65 by .50 inches 

 in dimensions. Six sets of eggs in the Smithsonian Institution from Holland 

 Patent and Clinton Falls, N. Y., were taken between June 17 and 29. 

 From the fact that nearly all the Winter wrens which we saw in the Adiron- 

 ■dacks between the 20th of June and the 1st of August had young well 

 ■out of the nest by July 10th, I am inclined to think the middle of June 

 is the usual date for fresh eggs. It is possible that a second brood is reared 

 .as many of the dates of eggs taken in the Adirondacks range from July 

 j 6 to the 25th and 29th. 



During the migration, this little wren is commonly observed about 

 the shrubbery of our lawns, parks and the edges of woods, when disturbed 

 retreating to the recesses of some brush pile or under the damp edges of 

 the stream bank. A few remain throughout the winter in western and 



