166 THE CACTUS WREN AS A MUSIC-BOX 



Oanon Wren may push northward wherever its favorite resorts 

 can be found. For it is by no means the tender, semi-tropical 

 bird we may have somewhat unconsciously supposed ; it is 

 resident in all the Territories just named ; it winters in Colorado, 

 Utah, and Nevada; and if it is ever subjected to the migratory 

 impulses which most of the Wrens feel at times, there is noth- 

 ing but the lack of suitable haunts to restrain its movements. 



We remember the " rift within the lute "; in the Oanon Wren 

 we have the lute within the rift — a curious little animated 

 music-box, utterly insignificant in size and appearance, yet fit 

 to make the welkin ring with glee. This bird-uote is one of 

 the most characteristic sounds in nature ; nothing matches it 

 exactly; and its power to impress the hearer increases when, 

 as usually happens, the volume of the sound is strengthened 

 by reverberation through the deep and sinuous canon, echoed 

 from side to side of the massive perpendicular walls till it 

 gradually dies away in the distance. No technical description 

 would be likely to express the character of these notes, nor 

 explain the indelible impression they make upon one who hears 

 them for the first time amid the wild and desolate scenes to 

 which they are a fit accompaniment. The song is perfectly 

 simple ; it is merely a succession of single whistling notes, each 

 separate and distinct, beginning as high in the scale as the 

 bird can reach, and regularly descending the gamut as long as 

 the bird's breath holds out, or until it reaches the lowest note 

 the bird is capable of striking. These notes are loud, clear, 

 and of a peculiarly resonant quality ; thej- are uttered with 

 startling emphasis, and I sometimes, fancied I detected a shade 

 of derision, as if, secure in its own rocky fastnesses, the bird 

 were disposed to mock the discomforts and anxieties of a 

 journey through hostile deserts. 



In its general habits, the Canon Wren displays much of the 

 nature of a Creeper; and, on closely comparing the structure 

 of its feet, much resemblance may be traced. In fact, its habits 

 recall the impression I have formed respecting those of the 

 European Wall Creeper {Tichodroma). It often flies up and 

 down the face of perpendicular cliffs, clinging to the slightest 

 inequalities of surface, or settling to sing upon the very edge 

 of the crest ; and has even been observed to cling to the roof 

 of a cave with all the facility of a Creeper, When among loose 

 bowlders, its behavior is more becoming a Wren ; it threads the 

 mazes of the rocks, like the Salpinctes, with wonderful agility, 



