CATHERPES, THE CANON WREN 83 



Indians in search of insects and crumbs. At 

 Sacaton, Arizona, Mr. French Gilman found 

 one building its nest in a slot machine on the 

 porch of the hotel. 



Besides the musical-scale song, Catherpes has 

 another little song, the idler's song I like to 

 call it, which is iterated again and again when 

 there is little else to do and he is just sitting 

 still and bobbing. As though to give added 

 emphasis to what he has to say, he always gives 

 his head a decided down-jerk as he sings it out, 

 reminding one of the scolding Johnny owls. 

 The rock wren's idler's song is a tinkling trill, 

 but the canon wren's note given under similar 

 circumstances is a shorter utterance and lacks 

 much of the resonance and metallic quality of 

 the former. 



Practically all of the wrens have what we 

 might characterize as a scolding note, a sort 

 of harsh gritty " skee-eep" uttered as a protest 

 against intruders or as an alarm note. The 

 canon wren's peppery temper often induces him 

 to utter just such a rasping note, a sound so 

 much in contrast to the regular vibrant, clear, 

 ringing scale song that it is a surprise to hear it 



