Relation of Summer Birds to Western Adirondack Forest 445 



household cares. In the latter part of the summer the Brown 

 Creeper utters a short clear whistle, a single note resembling the 

 syllable tscet, framed by tongue and teeth. This note is enunciated 

 oftenest as the Creeper travels up a tree trunk, and the whistle is 

 given after the bird has enjoyed a dainty titbit. The nest is a 

 bundle of soft stuff tucked in a crevice under loose bark, and the 

 eggs are white with brown spots. 



Winter Wren. Nannus hiemalis hiemalis (Vieill.) 



Length 4. Upper parts deep brown ; wings and tail with dark bars ; 

 under parts light brown, barred with black and white ; line over eye 

 tawny. 



The Winter Wren frequents not only the dark solitudes of the 

 forest but more open spaces, frequently along the small watercourses 

 that drain patches of bog or miniature ponds amid fallen trees, 

 tangled shrubbery, mossy logs and boulders. A favorite nesting site 

 is among the roots and earth upheaved by an overturned tree. One 

 nest examined in such a situation on June 24 had young about ready 

 to fly. Nesting dates for this wren vary considerably, as on July 

 31 two broods were seen in the dark virgin forest which apparently 

 had just left the nest. It is interesting to watch these youngsters 

 when disturbed. They scatter like young Bob-whites, some crouch- 

 ing in the sparse ground cover, while others may seek higher shelter. 

 One was noticed clinging to the bare bark near the base of a large 

 tree, like a growth on the bark, silent and watchful, seeking to avoid 

 detection while the adults were scolding forcibly under cover near 

 by and trying to draw the brood from the threatened danger. 



House Wren. Troglodytes acdon acdon Vieill. 



Length 5. Upper surface cinnamon-brown ; faintly barred ; under parts 

 gray; tail rather long. 



The House Wren is a bird especially of the Habitation Clearing 

 and the borders of the campus, and has no association with bogs or 

 real woods. It stuffs some hole in a dead stub, or a convenient 

 crevice elsewhere, with twigs, in the midst of which is a soft little 

 nest and six or eight red-peppered eggs. After the young leave the 

 nest, the House Wrens resort to the shrubbery of burns and clear- 

 ings, where they skulk under cover until thev disappear late in the 

 fall. 



* Brown Thrasher. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.) 



Length 11.4. Upper surface rufous; below, white, spotted with black on 

 breast, belly and sides to the angle of the mouth; bill long and curved. 



This bird was not observed by me in the season of 1916 at Cran- 

 berry Lake. Merriam mentions the Brown Thrasher as occurring 

 with the Catbird and the Wood Thrush about the western foothills 

 and borders of the Adirondack region. Of these three species, the 

 Catbird has become an established and regular resident at Cranberry 

 Lake, but the others have not yet become noticeable. 



