102 



TITMICE— WRENS-GREY-CROWNED FINCH. 



specimens measured 1.04 by 0.75 and 1.15 by 0.76. They are 

 pale giayish-green, spotted all over with several shades of reddish- 

 brown, sometimes so thickly, especially at the larger end, as to 

 hide the ground-color. 



Chestnut-backed Titmouse, Chickadee, or Tit. (Parus rufescens?) 



Fig. 3- 



This is one of our restless little species, that is frequently met 

 with on the coast ranges to the Pacific, from Sitka to Santa Cruz. 

 The social feeling and sympathy of these little creatures for their 

 companions is far ahead of some of God's more divine creatures. 

 Let man approach their nest, or thin their ranks with a gun, and 

 he will be surprised to see the courage, anxiety, and solicitude they 

 show for one another. According to Nuttall, " they are commonly 

 seen in small flocks of all ages in the autumn and winter, when 

 they move about briskly, and emit a number of feeble, querulous 

 notes, after the manner of the Chickadee, or common species, 

 Parus atricaj>illus\ but seldom utter anything like a song, though 

 now and then, as they glean about, they utter a fshe, de, de, or 

 fdee, t'dee, dee, their more common querulous call, however, being 

 like fshe, de, de, vait, fshe, de, de, vait; sometimes also a con- 

 fused warbling chatter. The busy troop, accompanied often by 

 the Carolina species, and the Regulus tricolor, are seen flitting 

 through bushes and thickets, carefully gleaning insects and larvae 

 for an instant, and are then off to some other place around, pro- 

 ceeding with restless activity to gratify the calls of hunger and the 

 stimulus of caprice. Thus they are seen to rove for miles together, 

 until satisfied or fatigued, when they retire to rest in the recesses 

 of the darkest forests, situations which they eventually choose for 

 their temporary domicile, where in solitude and retirement they 

 rear their young, and for the whole of the succeeding autumn and 

 winter remain probably together in families." The nest is said to 

 be made of " large, quantities of hypna and lichens, copiously and 

 coarsely lined with deer's hair and large feathers, such as those of 

 the Grouse and Jays." 



Least Titmouse, Chestnut-crowned Titmouse, or Tit. (Psaltrtyarus 



minimus?) 



Fig. 4- 



The Pacific coast to Sierra Nevada is the abiding-place of this 

 species. It is closely related to the Leader Titmouse. " Hopping 

 about in the hazel thickets," says Nuttall, " which border the allu- 

 vial meadows of the river, they appeared very intent and industri- 

 ously engaged in quest of small insects, chirping now and then a 

 slender call of recognition. They generally flew ofF in pairs, but 

 were by no means shy, and kept always in the low bushes or the 

 skirt of the woods. The following day I heard the males utter a 

 sort of weak, monotonous, short, and quaint song, and about a 

 week afterward I had the good fortune to find the nest, about which 

 the male was so particularly solicitous as almost unwittingly to 

 draw me to the spot, where hung from a low bush, about four feet 

 from the ground, his little curious mansion, formed like a long 

 purse, with a round hole for entrance near the top. It was made 

 chiefly of moss, down, and lint of plants, and lined with some feath- 

 ers. The eggs, six in number, were pure white." 



Rock Wren. 



{Salfinctus obsoletus.*) 

 Fig. 5- 



This large species of North American Wren was first discov- 

 ered by Major Long's exploring party, near the Arkansas river, in 

 the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains. It is said, to inhabit 

 sterile districts devoid of trees. Nuttall says: "Among these arid 



and bare hills of the central table-land they were quite common. 

 The old ones- were feeding and watching a brood of four or five 

 young, which, though fully grown, were protected and cherished 

 with the querulous assiduity so characteristic of the other Wrens. 

 They breed under the rocky ledges, where we so constantly ob- 

 served them, beneath which they skulk at once when surprised, and 

 pertinaciously hide in security, like so many rats. Indeed, so sud- 

 denly do they disappear among the rocks, and remain so silent in 

 their retreat, that it is scarcely possible to believe them beneath 

 your feet, till after the lapse of a few minutes you hear a low, 

 cautious chirp, and the next instant, at the head of the ravine, the 

 old female probably again appears, scolding and jerking in the 

 most angry attitudes she is capable of assuming." 



" This species," says Coues, " is especially characteristic of the 

 interior mountainous regions of the West, although, to the south- 

 ward at least, it reaches the Pacific Coast. It is reported from va- 

 rious parts of California, from Cape St. Lucas, and from Mexico. 

 Mr. Allen found it in Colorado, Mr. Merriam in Utah, where it was 

 abundant about White Sulphur Springs, Mr. Holden in Wyoming, 

 and Dr. Hayden states that it is numerous in the « bad lands.' I 

 frequently saw it in Upper Arizona, in rocky fastnesses, where its 

 peculiar song always attracted attention. Dr. Cooper states that a 

 nest from a wood-pile on the Upper Missouri was composed of a 

 loose flooring of sticks, lined with a great quantity of feathers, and 

 contained nine eggs of a reddish color, thickly spotted with choc- 

 olate. He also found nests at San Diego, under tiled roofs, con- 

 taining young, in May. According to Mr. Holden, the nest is 

 merely a few sticks and bits of moss put carelessly together : « One 

 was placed under a rock as large as a dog-house, and in it were four 

 young ones, which scampered off while I was removing the rock.' 

 The eggs are four to eight in number, measuring 0.72 by 0.60 

 inches, being thus much rounded. The shell is white, of crystal 

 purity and smoothness, very sparingly sprinkled with minute dots of 

 reddish-brown, chiefly aggregated at, or in a wreath around, the 

 larger end ; but a few other specks are commonly scattered over the 

 whole surface." 



Bewick's Wren. (Thryothorus beivickiu} 

 Fig. 6. 



This beautiful little species is closely allied to the Carolina o* 

 Mocking Wren. It was first discovered and figured by Audubon 

 Its song consists of a low twitter. Its habits and characteristics 

 are somewhat similar to other Wrens. 



Audubon says : " For several days, during which I occasionally 

 saw it, it moved along the bars of the fences, with the tail gener- 

 ally erect, looking from the bar on which it stood toward the one 

 next above, and caught spiders and other insects, as it ran along 

 from one panel of the fence to another in quick succession, now 

 and then uttering a low twitter, the only sound which I heard it 

 emit. It occasionally hopped sidewise, now with its head toward 

 me, and again in the contrary direction, at times descending to the 

 ground to inspect the lower bar, but only for a few moments, and, 

 as if about to sing, would for an instant raise its head and lower 

 its tail, but without giving utterance to any musical notes. In 

 shape, color, and movements, it nearly resembles the great Caro- 

 lina Wren and the House Wren. It has not, however, the quick- 

 ness of motion, nor the liveliness, of either of these birds." 



The Grey-crowned Finch. (Leucostiote tephrocotis,) 

 Fig. 7- 



Up to within a few years, this species was considered very 

 rare. According to Dr. Hayden's ornithological researches, it was 

 discovered to be abundant in the Wind River Mountains, where 

 numerous specimens were procured. Of their habits Mr. Holden 



