BIRDS OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



119 



\VRENS: Family Troglodytidae 



HOUSE WREN (Troglodytes 

 acdon): 4y2 - 5]/^ in. Above grayish- 

 brown; below gray, tinged with brown; 

 wing and tad with wavy dusky bars; 

 no conspicuous eye-stripe or white in 

 tail; tail short, frequently held at an 

 abrupt angle with body. Call, a scolding 

 kerr. Nests in abandoned woodpecker 

 holes or other cavities. 



Frequents bushes, chaparral, and 

 chiefly deciduous trees, the latter es- 

 pecially for nesting. S. V. largely in the 

 Upper Sonoran to the Transition life- 

 zone. Upmountain movement after 

 breeding carries some birds to high ele- 

 vations as to 9,200 feet at the head of 

 Lyell Canyon in the Yosemite region. 



WINTER WREN (Troglodytes trog- 

 lodytes}: 4 in. Resembles house wren 

 but is darker, smaller, and has shorter 

 tail: inconspicuous line over eye; belly 

 brownish and heavily barred. Bobs 

 when excited. Our smallest wren. Song 

 a prolonged series of thin high notes 

 suggestive of a squeaky wheel. Often 

 nests in cavities in or beneath logs. 



Frequents the damp, shady forest 

 floor where there are tangles of roots, 

 ferns, and matted vegetation (often in- 

 cluding moss) chiefly in the Transition 

 and Canadian life-zones. Of local oc- 

 currence in summer in the Yosemite 

 region as at the Merced Grove of Big 

 Trees, foot of Vernal Fall, and near 

 Happy Isles, but chiefly a W. V. 



BEWICK'S WREN (Thryomanes 

 bewicki): 5-5/2 in. Above dark brown: 

 below grayish-white becoming white on 

 throat; outer tail feathers black, tipped 

 with white; central feathers gray-brown 

 barred with dusky; white line over eye. 



Frequents continuous or broken chap- 

 arral and tracts of woodland with brush 

 clumps, chiefly in the Upper Sonoran 

 life-zone. There is shifting of some 

 birds up- or downmountain, depending 

 upon locality, in late summer, fall, and 

 winter. R. at lower elevations in the 

 extreme western part of the Yosemite 

 region. C. V. to Yosemite Valley. 



LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN 



(Telmatodytes palustris): ^Yi-'^Y^ in. 

 Above brownish; patch of black on 

 back crossed by longitudinal white 

 lines; white line over eye; rump brown; 

 below whitish, brownish on sides: tail 

 leathers brown, barred with dusky. 



Frecjuents marshlands, especially 

 where tules grow. Usually nests over 

 water. Ranges from the Lower Sonoran 

 to the Transition life-zone. Sparse 

 C. V. and W. V. to lower elevations 

 in western part of ^'osemite region. 

 Has been seen in Yosemite Valley. 



CANYON WREN (Cat her pes mexi- 

 canus): 5/2-5% in. Above brown, with 

 fine black and white spots; throat and 



BEWICK'S WREN 



CANYON WREN 





