TROGLODYTIUiE SALPINCTES OBSOLETUS. 27 



CertMa mmcmm, Glogbk &, Eeich.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 290 ; 1858, 297 ; 1859, 362, 

 H/'J.— Bd., B. N. a. ia58, 933, pi. 83, f. 2; Rev. 1864, 90.— SuJiiCH.. Mem. 

 Bost. Soc. i, 1869, 544 (Vera Cruz).— Coop., Am. Nat. iii, 1869, 74 ; B. Cal. 1870,, 

 58. (A variety.) 

 Hah. — Europe. North America at large. Mexico (var.). 



No specimens of this species were taken by either of the expeditions,/ - ; 

 but I bring it into the present connection, since its linown ranf^e is such ' , . , 

 as to make it quite certain that it occurs iu the Missouri region. It is/-' i '' 

 an inconspicuous bird, liable to be long overlooked in regions where it , ' 

 is not very abundant. ' •,- 



I am unable to perceive any difference between American and Bu-. ' ^ 

 ropean examples, and I am not aware that any tangible characters have Z.'^j- 

 been ascribed to our bird by those writers who have technically separ- ' 

 ated it. The Southwestern American form appears to constitute a slight • 

 variety. ^ /^., 



The egg of the Creeper is not distinguishable with certainty from that^._ ,' 

 of a Chickadee, hat is smaller, measuring only about 0,55 by 0.4:3. It is^' 

 white, speckled with reddish-brown. $^Si~ 



Family TROGLODYTID^E : Wrens. 



SALPIiSrOTBS OBSOLETUS, (Say) Cab. 

 RocK Wren. 



Troglodytes ohsoletus, Say, Long's Expel, ii, 1823, 4.— Nutt., Man. i, 1832, 435.— AuD., 

 Oru. Biog. iv, 1838, 443, pi. 360.— Aro., B. Am. ii, 1841, 113, pi. 116.— Newjj., 

 P. E. R. liep. vi, 1857, 80.— Heej-.m., P. R. E. Rep. x, 1859, pt. vi, 41. 



Myiotliera ohsolcta, Bp., Am. Oru. i, 1825, 6, pi. 1, fig. 2. 



Thvijothorus oisoletus, Bp., Comp. and Geog. List, 1838, 11 ; Rev. Zool. ii, 1839, 98. 



Salpinctes ohsoletus. Cab., "Wieg. Archiv, 1847, 323. — Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 224.— Bd., 

 B. N. A. 1853, 3.57 ; Rev. 1864, 110.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 163.— ScL., P. Z. S. 18.59, 

 371.— COUES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 77.— Coor., Am. Nat. iii, 1869, 297 (Upper 

 Missouri), 73 (breeding at Fort Benton). — Coop., Pr. Cal. Acad. 1870, 75 (Col- 

 orado River). -Coop., B. Cal. 1870, 64.— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 174.— 

 Hold., Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 195 (Black Hdls).— Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 

 1870, 464.— Merk., ibid. 1872, 693.— Trippe, Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 236 (Deca- 

 tur County, Iowa).— Codes, Key, 1872, 85. 



" Thryothorvs latifasciatus, LiCHT." (Bp.) 



Hah. — United States, from the Central Plains to the Pacific, lovta- {Trippe.) Mexico. 

 Not obtained by Captain Raynolds's Expedition. 



Lieutenant Warren's Ejcpedition. — 8830, Running Water ; 5277-9, Powder Eiver ; 8831-2, 

 Mauvaises Terres. 

 Later Expeditions. — 60687, Sweetwater (Stevenson) ; 61654, Ogdeu, Utah (Merriam). 



This species is espeoiallj' characteristic of the interior mountainous 

 regions of the West, although, to the southward at least, it reaches the 

 Pacific coast. It is reported from various parts of California, from Cape 

 St. Lucas, and from Mexico. Mr. Allen found it in Colorado, Mr. Mer- 

 riam 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, iu rocky fast- 

 nesses, where its peculiar song always attracted attention. Dr. Cooper 

 states that a nest from a wood-pile on the Upper Missouri was com- 

 posed of a loose flooring of sticks, lined with a great quautity of 

 feathers, and contained nine eggs of a reddish color, thickly spotted 

 with chocolate. He also found nests at San Diego, under tiled roo.'s, 

 containing young, in May. According to Mr. Holden, the nest i.s merely 

 a few sticks and bits of moss put carelessly together : " one was placed 

 iiuder a rock as large as a dog-house, and in it were four young ones, 

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