CATHERPES, THE CAftON WREN 



(Catherpes mexicanus conspersus) 



OF all our sweet-singing Western birds, it 

 seems to me without a doubt that the canon 

 wren is the most finished and pleasing musician. 

 All birddom hardly shows a song so full of glad 

 hurry, so sweet and artistically controlled. 

 Whether bursting upon the still, herb-scented 

 air from out a deep- walled canon, or echoed and 

 reechoed from the rocky mountain cliffs, it is a 

 song that always arouses the whole soul to 

 rapture. There is first the hurried silvery trill 

 and then the well-modulated descending scale 

 of eight to eleven joyous, liquid notes. It is a 

 song varied at times, but always well worth 

 learning by heart; for by imitating the birds you 

 can induce them to sing again and again, and 

 answer you back from over the canon depths. 

 It is in the early morning hours before and 

 immediately after sunrise that the song is at 

 its best, most vibrant and clear. As the morn- 

 ing advances, the songs become more infrequent 



