174 



ROCK WREN. 



715. Salpinctes obsoletus. Sty inches. 



Upper parts stone color, specked with black; rump, 

 brownish; under parts whitish with indistinct streaks 

 on the throat. 



A common bird on the dry, rocky foothills of the 

 Rockies and westward. They are well named for their 

 favorite places are among the rocks, where they are 

 always busily engaged in hunting insects or spiders in 

 the crevices. Owing to their colors and their habits 

 of slinking away behind the rocks they are quite diffi- 

 cult to see, but their sweet song is always heard if 

 any of the birds are in the vicinity. 



Song. Very sweet and varied, almost canary-like, 

 but impossible to describe; call, a harsh grating note. 



Nest. Of sticks, weeds, grasses, etc., concealed in 

 crevices among the rocks; the five or six eggs are 

 white, sparingly specked with reddish brown 

 (.72x.54). 



Range. Western U. S. from the western border of 

 the Plains to the Pacific, north to Dakota and British 

 Columbia; winters from southwestern U. S. southward. 



