696 The Sparrow-like Birds 



Canyon Wren. A frequent companion of the last, but partial to the deep, 

 rocky canyons of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain regions, is the Canyon 

 Wren (Catherpes mexicanus conspersus], well called for its fondness for the 

 wildest of rocky fastnesses, where it pours forth its wonderful ringing, flute-like 

 song, like a. "curious little animated music box," as Dr. Coues calls it. It nests 

 in crevices or caves among rocks, building a nest not unlike that of the last- 

 mentioned species, and laying from three to six white, brown-blotched eggs. 



The Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus} of the eastern United States is 

 the sole representative of its genus, though a genus closely allied but distinguished 

 by having a much more rounded wing (Pheugopedius), of more than forty forms, 

 spreads throughout Central America and South America to Brazil and Bolivia. 

 It is about five and a half inches long, rufous-brown above, with a white line 

 over the eye, a black barred tail, and buffy or ochraceous below. Ever wild 

 and untamed, the Carolina Wren mostly shuns the haunts of man and makes 

 his home in the undergrowth near streams, where he dodges in and out among 

 brush heaps, fallen tree-tops, and rocky places in the woods, now appearing on 

 this side, now an instant later on that, scolding or giving voice to a great variety 

 of musical trills in endless change. The most common song is a clear, loud, 

 ringing metallic repetition of the syllables tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, or ivhee- 

 udel, whee-udel, whee-udel. It is the only bird of the eastern United States 

 that sings regularly throughout the winter, when its song is quite as loud. and 

 exuberant as in the breeding season. The bulky nest is composed of grasses, 

 hair, feathers, and the like; it is placed in holes in stumps, crevices about 

 buildings, etc. The four to six eggs are white profusely speckled with reddish 

 brown and lavender. 



Bewick's Wren. Very closely related to this genus are the Wrens of the 

 genus Thryomanes, separated chiefly on account "of the relatively much longer 

 tail and other minor structural characters, and having the tail-feathers, with 

 the exception of the middle pair, chiefly plain blackish instead of being barred. 

 Of these Bewick's Wren ( T. bewickn) of the eastern United States is best known, 

 being much more of a "house bird" than the Carolina Wren, coming about the 

 gardens, barns, and outbuildings, and pouring forth his clear, bold song from 

 the top of the house. The remaining fifteen or more species and subspecies 

 of the genus are found in the western United States and Mexico. 



The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a familiar and much-esteemed bird 

 of eastern North America from southern Canada to the Gulf, and is the typical 

 member of another large genus (Troglodytes] which spreads over practically 

 the whole of North and South America. Too familiar to need extended descrip- 

 tion, it is one of the birds most eagerly watched for in spring, coming fearlessly 

 about houses and grounds, where for nesting site it appropriates a bird box, 

 an old crook-neck squash put out for his accommodation, a crevice in a building, 

 or when there are not enough of these to go around, perforce of circumstances 

 they take up with a hole in a tree. The nest is made of small twigs and lined 

 with fine grass, feathers, etc., and the eggs number from five to nine, being 

 white but so profusely dotted as to appear nearly uniform salmon-color. Two 



