104 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



tered. As a means of protection against the various rodents that inhabit this 

 bluff, no doubt, a number of thorny twigs were placed near the entrance and 

 down the small passageway that led to the nest cavity. There a loose collection 

 of dry grass stems was placed in a slight hole scratched in the dry dust. At 

 that date the female had not commenced to lay, although the nest was apparently 

 ready for eggs. 



Three weeks later another pair of wrens were found singing near a small 

 cave, and one of the birds was seen to fly from the inside on two different occas- 

 sions, but no nest was to be found. 



San Joaquin Wren. Thryomanes bewicki drj'moecus Oberholser. 



The nature of the country about Fresno is not such as to attract wrens of 

 any kind in numbers. Wood sprites they are, and must have a well timbered 

 country ; so it is not surprising that the present species occurs, within the range 

 of this paper, principally along the San Joaquin and Kings rivers and at the mouth 

 of one or two of the creeks that lead down out of the hills. From these places 

 they make somewhat extended visits to other parts of the valley during the winter 

 months, and are sometimes encountered in brush piles along the canals and 

 ditches. Here they climb over logs, dodge into brush heaps, or pry into the holes 

 in partly dead willows, picking up from such places whatever offers in the way of 

 food. While quite generally distributed some winters, they are not at any time 

 abundant. 



April 8, 191 1, the writer secured for identification an example of this wren 

 from a large, ragged old willow tree growing near the river below Lane's Bridge. 

 This specimen is now in the Museum at the University of California, and has 

 been identified by Mr. Grinnell as the "San Joaquin Wren", a form not recog- 

 nized by the A. O. U. Committee, but which differs markedly from typical 

 charienturus. 



April 20, 1912, wrens were heard singing in the tangle of brush and wil- 

 lows at the Madera County end of Tane's Bridge. When I remained quiet for 

 a few minutes one of the birds appeared with a bill full of what seemed to be 

 nesting material. She sang several tinies but seemed to be suspicious. I was not 

 able to wait for her to reveal to me the location of her nest, which was no doubt 

 located somewhere about the timbers of the bridge. 



TuLE Wren. Telmatodytes palustris paludicola (Baird). 



Marsh wrens of any species are far less numerous in Fresno County than 

 would be expected, when we consider the hosts of marsh blackbirds that are 

 attracted to the valley, and find conditions well suited to their needs. 



In all my tramping among the tules, and wading in frog ponds, I have never 

 found a nest of these little wrens : neither have I ever seen one of the birds dur- 

 ing the summer months. In midwinter, by tramping through the tule beds and 

 along ditch banks, a marsh wren may sometimes, but not often, be made to take 

 wing. From the information at hand I should put this species down only as a 

 regular but not abundant winter visitant. 



A specimen collected near Raisin City, November 10, 1910, by Mr. Joseph 

 Sloanaker, has been identified by Mr. Grinnell as paludicola. 



