SCIENCE 



NEW YORK, JULY 14, 1893. 



TEIE WRENS OF TRA.VIS COUNTY, TEXA.S. 



BY CHARLES D. OLDRIGHT, AUSTIN, TEXAS. 



1. Catkerpes Mexicanus conapersus, Canon Wreu. This bird 

 if an "eniiemic" species, its occurrence in any district depend- 

 ing on the topographic features. The great rock walls of the 

 Colorado River, and the numerous side canons form an ideal 

 dwelling-place for this little bird, and here it may be found at 

 all seasons, and its loud, ringing song re-echoes from cliff to cliff 

 in the dreary days of November as well as in April's sunshine. 

 But it penetrates into the city, and every morning this year one 

 of the first sounds that I have heard has been the matutinal song 

 of a canon wren whose nest was in a cranny of an unoccupied 

 house standing next to mine. 



The canon wren (as active a busy-body as the rest of his tribe) 

 seems to be never too tired to sing. Reclining on the soft grass 

 at the margin of the rivulet you look up the great frowning cliff 

 and see a tiny bird, now clinging to the perpendicular rock, now 

 disappearing in some crevice of the cliflF and then perching on a 

 projecting fragment, he utters a succession of clear bell-like notes 

 in a descending scale 



As this wren usually nests in some crevice far up in the canon 

 wall its eggs are ofien safe from the hands of the oologist. 

 Many times have I gazed longingly at a few straws projecting 

 friini a hole, while the owner of the nest watched me compla- 

 cently. In such cases " 'tis distance lends enchantment to the 

 view." However, I have had the pleasure of examining several 

 nests containing eggs and young, and as I liave never seen any 

 detailed account of the nidefication of this species, I will give 

 some particulars about them. 



This bird begins building early in the season, a nest with 

 hatching eggs in it having been taken on the 30th day of March. 

 In 1890 fresh eggs were found April B, i and 11. 

 - The nest is placed in some cranny or hole of convenient size, 

 always in the face of the cliff; other situations are on a rafter in 

 a bam, under the cornice on a veranda and in the chimney of an 

 uninhabited house. 



The nest is composed of grass and weeds and lined warmly 

 with hair, wool and cotton. The complement of eggs varies 

 from three to five, four being perhaps more usual than either of 

 the other numbers. 



The eggs always have a clear white ground, while the mark- 

 ings vary from a very slight sprinkling of brown pin-points to 

 numerous large blotches and spots of reddish-brown and lilac, 

 forming a confluent ring encircling the crown ; this is the most 

 common pattern of coloration. Their shape is ovate or rounded 

 ovate, but I have seen one pyriform egg in the nest with three 

 J other normally shaped eggs. 



2. Phryaihorus ludovicumits, Carolina Wren. An abundant 

 bird in the bottom lands along brooks and in all heavily timbered 

 country. The Carolina wren is another fine singer, but spends 

 too much of its time in scolding owl*, crows and men. But 

 often, especially in the spring and at sunset on a summer's day, 

 one of these birds will perch on the topmost twig of a tall shrub 

 and will, with his tail drooping and head thrown back, call 

 "sweet William" until the woodsresound. By the way, "sweet 

 William " does not express the exact sound of the bird's notes to 



• me, but I am so hopeless of expressing birds' voices by English 

 ' words that I will not attempt to amend it. 



This bird cannot be called particular in its choice of a nesting- 

 place, for their nests have been found in hollow logs, under the 

 cornice of a house, in a tin can placed in a tree, in a hole in a 

 J^jTOck wall and on the window sill of a farmhouse. The hollow 

 i log is, I believe, the most usual situation. The nest is made to 

 I fit the cranny in which it is built and generally fills it. Twigs, 



glass weeds, leaves, hair, cotton, wool, rags, paper and even 

 other materials enter into its composition. In shape it is more 

 or less rounded, with an entrance in the side. The eggs are four, 

 five or six in number, five being mist common. 



There is not much variation in the eggs ; the markings being in 

 some heavier than in others. The ground color is white, spotted 

 thickly and finely with specks of reddish-salmon color and lilac, 

 generally forming a poorly defined ring around the crown. The 

 ground color is usually well concealed. 



Fresh eggs may be found from April 1 to May 15, the height 

 of the breeding season being during the middle of April. 



3. Thryothorus bewickii murlniis, Baird's Wren. 



Probably our commonest wren, found in all kinds of country, 

 bottoms or uplands, forest or prairies, mountains or plains. I 

 believe, however, that Baird's wren prefers a broken country, 

 little patches of prairie ani mesquite groves alternating with the 

 timber. 



A number of these birds must spend their whole lives in 

 the city of Austin, for in nearly every garden one may find a 

 pair. 



They are fussy little ci'eatures hardly ever silent for a moment 

 but keeping up a lively chatter or querulous " chee, chee, chee." 

 But all through the spring, even as early as January, the males 

 are great singers, and early on an April morning one cannot go 

 far without hearing the sweet and cheerful song of one of these 

 little birds. At such times one finds the bird perched in a tree-top, 

 but on other occasions he will be hopping amongst the bushes or 

 along a rail fence, flirting his long tail, uttering a continuous 

 '• chirp, chirp," and at each third " chirp" stopping a moment to 

 pour forth his little ditty. This is kept up for hours at a time. 



In February the wrens become restless and may be seen 

 promenading tie back yards in pairs peering into every hole an J 

 bird-box. They seem to be often undecide'd as to a nesting p'ac.% 

 for I have known of a pair starting four different nests within a 

 week, without any apparent cause for their fickleness. Any 

 place seems good enough for this bird to start a nest — though as 

 I have just stated they are more particular about its final location. 

 Many people here have put small wooden boxes at their gates for 

 the reception of mail matter, and I verily believe that each one is 

 looked into once a year by a Baird's wren, with a view to building 

 in it, and indeed many are chosen as nesting sites. 



The nest is simply a mass of rubbish — but always warmly and 

 softly lined wich feathers or cotton. Six is a common comple- 

 ment of eggs, but as many as eight or as few as four may con- 

 stitute a full set. The eggs are white, more or less speckled with 

 brown of varying shades and lilac, sometimes the specks of red- 

 dish brown are th'ckly and uniformly distributed, again they are 

 collected into a ring surrounding the crosvn or else rather larger 

 specks of chocolate brown and lilac shell markings are more 

 sparingly disposed. 



Two " albino " eggs came under my notice last spring; one was 

 immaculate white, the other had a very faint speckling on the 

 crown; both these eggs were with other normally colored eggs. 

 I also found a peculiar " runt" egg of this species, it is of normal 

 coloration but measures only .oo by .44, being thus the size of a 

 humming bird's egg. I f )und it one day in a hole in a telephone 

 pole, and left it thinking that more eggs might be laid, as I saw 

 the birds at hand; but when, after the lapse of several days, none 

 were deposited, I took it. Why the bird laid no more I do not 

 know. Surprise at the first one may have had something to do 

 with it. 



4. Troglodytes aedon aztecus. Western House Wren. 

 Of this member of the family I can say but little, for during 

 his winter stay with us he is very silent and indeed shy, 



I am aware thathe, like his kinsmen, cin scold with remark- 

 able vehemence, for I have heard him. While he remains with 

 us he is to be found in the creek bottoms wherever there are 



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