486 Birds of Colorado 
p. 276 ; McGregor 97, p. 39; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 120, 221; Keyser 02, 
p. 296 ; Henderson 03, p. 237; 09, p. 240; Warren 06, p. 24; 08, p. 25; 
09, p. 17 ; Gilman 07, p. 195 ; Markman 07, p. 153 ; Rockwell 08, p. 178. 
Description.—Adult—Above pale brownish-grey, washed with rufous 
on the rump, delicately speckled throughout with darker ; tail-feathers, 
except the central pair, with a subterminal band of black and a terminal 
one of pale buffy ; below dull white tinged with buff on the flanks, 
the chest and lower throat finely streaked with dusky and the under 
tail-coverts spotted with the same ; iris brown, bill horny, the lower 
mandible paler, legs blackish. Length of a male 5.4; wing 28; 
tail 2-1; culmen -75; tarsus -80. 
The sexes are alike; young birds are vermiculated rather than 
speckled above, and are immaculate below. 
Distribution.—Western North America from British Columbia to 
central Texas, south to central Mexico, west to the Pacific, breeding 
throughout its range and wintering in the southern portion of it. 
In Colorado the Rock-Wren is plentiful, though never very common, 
throughout the State from the plains to timber line, and from the 
Kansas to the Utah border. It arrives from the south about the middle 
of April, breeds from the plains to 12,000 feet, though chiefly between 
6,000 and 9,000 feet, and departs again in October. There can be 
little doubt that a few individuals winter in the State, as it has been 
observed by Lowe (01) on January 12th, at the foot of the Wet Moun- 
tains, about eighteen miles south-west of Pueblo. 
{y The following are some spring records: Springfield, Baca co., 
April 10th (Warren), Fort Lyon, April 20th (Cooke), Pueblo, April 
7th (Lowe), El Paso co., April 27th (Allen & Brewster), Boulder co. 
(Henderson), Loveland, April 29th (Cooke), Mesa co., May Ist 
(Rockwell), Coventry and Bedrock, common (Warren). 
Habits.—The favourite resort of this bird is among 
the heaps of fallen and loose rock lying about on the 
mountain sides, and also about rocky cafions and bluffs ; 
here it skulks about, running swiftly over the bare stones 
more like a rat than a bird. It is.a fine songster, its 
notes being clear and bright, though perhaps not so varied 
as those of the House-Wren. When singing, the male 
nearly always perches on some conspicuous position, 
the summit of a rock, or even occasionally the ridge of 
a miner’s cabin; here he stands very erect, with head 
thrown up and swelling throat, and pours forth his lay ; 
