174 distkibutkjn of parkman's wren 



the semi-domesticated House Wren, we onconscioiisly consider 

 the traits it has acquired in populous regions, and the con- 

 sequent modiflcatiou of its habits, to be natural, and are apt 

 to contrast our bird's somewhat artificial mode of life with the 

 primitive manner in which the other still lives. Making due 

 allowance for this, we find that the alleged discrepancies be- 

 tween the two birds have little foundation in fact. Nor have 

 circumstances altered the case to the extent some suppose; 

 for the behavior of these Wrens is still the same when they are 

 placed under similar conditions. Parkman's Wren accepts the 

 situation as soon as it is brought in contact with civilization, 

 as readily as the House Wren did in the beginning ; while the 

 latter remains in some places unaffected by the settlement of 

 the country. Such is the case in Florida, for instance, where 

 Mr. J. A. Allen studied its habits. " The term ' house ' wren," 

 he remarks, " usually applied to this bird, is decidedly a mis- 

 nomer, since it frequents the fields, the thickets, and even the 

 forest, as much as the vicinity of houses. In the wilds of 

 Florida, where human habitations are few, there is notliing 

 whatever in its habits to suggest this name." 



The \N'estern House Wren is abundant in the Colorado Basin 

 in all suitable localities; that is, in wooded and shrubby places. 

 With reference to the region at large, the bird is resident, being 

 found in all parts at one season or another. Yet it is perfectly 

 migratory. At Fort Whipple, I noticed its arrival in that 

 elevated locality, from its winter resorts in lower portions of 

 Arizona, about the 20th of April; and it remained until October. 

 It is nearly a month later in a;)pearing in the northerly mount- 

 ainous portions of the watershed, as in Colorado Territory for 

 instance; and it there disajipears in September. Some individ- 

 uals continue their migration till they reach the northern bound- 

 ary of the United States. Its extension in the other direction 

 is less definite, and may perhaps depend upon our interpretation 

 of the geographical race which has been described from Mexico. 

 As in the case of the typical House Wren, I do not venture to 

 take into consideration any of the extralimital quotations 

 which may or may not actually refer to our species. The 

 probability is, that true parlcmani does not extend into Mexico, 

 except perhaps for a little way, and only in winter; the corre- 

 sponding resident " House" Wren of that country being what 

 is called var. aztecus. 



In its nidification, Parkman's Wren agrees so closely with 



