1912] Taylor: Birds and Reptiles of Northern Nevada. 417 



distant. After regarding me for a minute or two he flew across 

 the caiion. Ordinarily the birds are easily approachable. 



The rock wren evidently possesses something at least akin 

 to personal courage. One was observed attacking a chipmunk 

 which was sitting on a rock, swooping at it in the same way 

 that a mockingbird assaults a cat. 



After July 8 young were quite commonly seen. While we 

 were putting out a line of traps on a meadow on Big Creek 

 (7000 feet) a family including two juvenals with the adults was 

 met with. The youngsters had not been long out of the nest, 

 as their "juvenal" plumage was still incomplete. As we ap- 

 proached, the excitement of the parents knew no bounds, one of 

 them, supposedly the female, venturing to within four feet of 

 us, and calling solicitously. Even in her excitement she caught 

 and ate some small insect, deftly wiping her bill afterwards on 

 the rocks. This may signify that the capture of food is largely 

 a reflex action. It should perhaps be noted that the presence of 

 food in the mouth does not interfere with the quality of the 

 song to any appreciable extent ; one male was heard singing 

 roundly with his beak full of insects. This seems to be the case 

 also in certain other birds, as for instance, the song sparrow and 

 Cassin purple finch. Three or four young birds in each family 

 were in most cases the numbers seen. 



Troglodytes aedon parkmani Audubon 

 Western House Wren 

 Recorded only from stations located in Transition zone, 

 between 6000 and 8000 feet in the mountains. Young were 

 twice observed, indicating that the birds breed in the region. 

 One wren was caught in a mouse-trap set ten feet from the 

 stream. A large family, including adults and juvenals, was 

 observed July 28 on a flat covered with thick sagebrush at an 

 altitude of 6000 feet on Big Creek. 



Telmatodytes palustris plesius (Oberholser) 

 Western Marsh Wren 

 Two wrens of this species observed on May 20 in a tangle of 

 wild rose and scrub willow on the banks of Quinn River. One 

 of these (no. 8482) was secured. 



