TPOGLODYTID.E THRYOTHORUS BEWICKIT. 31 



THEYOTHOKTJS BEWIOKII, (And.) Bp. 

 Bewick's Wren. 



a. beicicldi. 



Troglodytes ladclii, AuD., Orn. Biog. i, 1^31, 96 ; v, 1838, 467 ; pi. 18.— AuD., Syii. 1.^39, 

 74.— Aui)., B. Am. ii, 1841, 120, pi. lis.— NnxT., Mau. i, IS!-.;, 434.— Li->,s., Rev. 

 Zool. 1840, 264. — WooDH., Sitgv. Rep. 18.j3, 67 (Indian Tfrritoiw, very abun- 

 dant.). — Trippe, Pr. Ess. Inst. vi. 1871, 115 (Minnesota, common, breeilin;;). 



Tlmjothorus bcwiekii, Bp., List, 1838, 11.— Bp , Consp. i, 18.o0, i-Jl.- Bd., B. N. A. 18.:.8, 363 ; 

 Rev. 1864, 126.— CoUES, Pr. Best. Soc. xii, 1808, 108 (South Caiolina, resi- 

 dent?). — TUKNB., B. E. Pa. 1869, M (rare, in summer only).— Snow, B. Kans. 

 6.— CouES, Key, 1872, 86. 



Telmatodytes beiciekii, Cab., Mus. Hein. 1850, 78. 



b. leiwogaster. 



Troglodytes leucogastra, Gould, P. Z. S. 1836, 89 (Tamaulipas). 



Thryothorus leucogaster, Bp., Cousp. i, 1850, 222; Notes Orn. Delattrp, 1854, 43. . 



Thryothoriis hewickU, ScL., P. Z. S. 18.59, 371 (Oaxaca).— Cole.s, Pr Phila. Acad. 1866, 



78 (Arizona). 

 Thryothorus heicickii var. leucogaster, Bd., Rev. 1864, 127. — CouES, Key, 1872, 86. 



C. spilurus. 



Troglodytes spihirus, VlG., Zool. Beecliey's Voy. 1839, 18, pi. 4, f. 1 (California). 



Thryothorus spilurus, C'oop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 69. 



Troglodytes beivickii, Newb., P. R. R. Rep. vi, 18.57, 80. — Heerji., ibid, x, 1859, part vi, 



40.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wa.sh. Ter. 1860, 189. 

 Thryothorus iewickii var. spilurus, Bd., Rev. 1864, 126. — Cot'es, Key, 1872, 86. 



Hab. — Eastern United States, north to Pennsylvania and Minnesota ; west to Kansas. 

 Var. leucogaster iu Southwestern United States and Mexico. Var. spilurus along the 

 whole Pacific coast. United States and southward. 



Obtained by none of the Expeditions. 



Like the Carolina Wreu, Bewick's is essentially a southern .sipecies. Its 

 northern limit, in the Atlantic States, is Pennsylvania, where it is rare, 

 and only tbund in summer. Mr. TurnbuU gives it in his list, and Prof. 

 Baird took it at Carlisle. It appears to be uncommon all along the line. 

 I do not recollect that I ever saw it in Maryland, Virginia, or either of 

 the Carolinas, and I never collected a specimen. In the interior, how- 

 ever, it is abundant in some regions; thus, Mr. Eidgway tells me, it is 

 very common in Southern Illinois, where it replaces the Honse Wren, to 

 the nearly complete exclusion ot the latter, and has the same semi-do- 

 mesticated ways, breeding about out-houses and gardens. In the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, moreover, it proceeds furthest north. Mr. Trippe records 

 it as common in Minnesota, where it breeds. The egg, of which I have 

 only seen two or three authentic examples, is white, speckled with lilac 

 and darker slaty shades of brown, chiefly about the larger end. The egg 

 resembles that of a Titmouse or Creeper, but the markings are darker 

 and the size greater — from 0.70 by 0.52 to O.OG by 0.51. 



In the southwest I found the white-bellied variety of Bewick's Wren 

 extremely abundant. It was the characteristic Wren about Fort W^hip- 

 ple, in Arizona, though the House Wren was very common there too. 

 Similarly, var. spilurus abounds in the wooded portions of California. 

 In their habits, these varieties are identical with the common form, ex- 

 cept in so far as certain points may be modified to suit circumstances, 

 especially iu the matter of nesting, in which, as is well known, most 

 birds accommodate themselves very easily to their surroundings. Pos- 

 sessing few, if any, distinctive traits, there is very little to be said of 

 Bewick's Wren not equally applicable to its numerous relatives, whose 

 restlessness, curious excitable temper, and odd energetic actions, are 

 familiar to every one. It is an accomplished and versatile songster; 

 though its notes have not the ring and volume of those of the Carolina 

 Wren, it has a very pretty song of its own, varied at its whim, quite 

 unlike the simpler tril]j})[|/^g^jB,^(9)[^^^j^^rsh Wren. 



