BEWICK’S WREN. 
Thryothorus bewickii BAtRD. 
UR FAMILIAR House Wren of the Northern and Eastern States is not found in 
the South during the breeding season. It is replaced by the everywhere common 
BEWICK’s WREN, often called the SourHERN House WrEN. In the beautiful sub-tropical 
gardens of Louisiana and Texas, this is one of the first birds to be met. So soon as 
the Carolina jasmine opens its yellow trumpet-shaped flowers, filling the air with sweet 
perfume, and the gorgeous amaryllis'—which thrive in the open air throughout the 
year in this part of the country—have expanded their large, conspicuous, lily-like blos- 
soms, the song of this confiding Wren is heard from almost every barn-yard and 
garden. In Houston, Texas, where in the ornamental plantations the Cape jasmine, 
pittosporum, Banksia rose, laurel, oleander, arbor vitae, Japanese spindle-tree*®, myrtle, 
Indian hawthorn?, evergreen Japanese honeysuckle and other evergreen shrubs and 
climbers abound, this lively bird is a familiar denizen. If we add to the above named 
plants the Chinese wistarias, which here attain a gigantic size and climb the tallest 
trees, the cedars, the pomegranate bushes, crape-myrtles, and various native and 
Asiatic magnolias, the tea, Noisette and Bourbon roses, some slight idea is conveyed of 
the charming beauty of these gardens. It is no wonder that the silver-throated Bewick’s 
Wren takes up its abode in such a region. It moves boldly about among the dense 
shrubs, in the outhouses, and in the piles of wood, but at the approach of danger 
disappears with indescribable rapidity. It assumes a bearing of familiarity more marked 
than that of almost any other bird with which I am acquainted, always preferring 
gardens and yards in close proximity to man, even in large towns, to the shrubbery 
of the borders of woods, where the Carolina Wren selects its home. It surpasses in 
familiarity even the northern House Wren. It is, however, not confined to the above 
described localities, but is found also in places where man has no appreciation of the 
beautiful, where he plants no flowers and no ornamental shrubbery, simply cultivating the 
soil to obtain pecuniary returns. In such places, this Wren is satisfied with stables and 
neglected barns, with log-houses and wood-sheds, with brush-heaps and wood-piles. 
Bewick’s Wren was one of the first birds I observed in Texas. It soon attracts our 
attention by its boldness, curiosity, and lively manners. When, in the early autumn of 
1882, I moved to the south-western part of Missouri, this Wren was again one of the 
first birds I met.—It may be approached within a few steps, when it merrily carols its 
lay from the top of a bush or a post. If we approach too near, it swiftly descends to 
the ground, disappearing in the bushes or among the rubbish; but immediately after, 
its song may be heard from some other direction. One not acquainted with the 
songster, eagerly stops to listen to the loud and melodious notes. These are liquid, 
sweet, finely modulated, and uttered usually as the bird is perched upon a post, or the 
roof of a building. It assumes the same attitude when singing as does the Carolina Wren. 
1 Hippeastrum equestre, H. Johnsoni, etc, 2 Euonymus japonica, 8 Rhaphiolepis indica, R. Japonica, 
