NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 471 



song. The nest of the Canon Wren is generally built in some deserted tunnel or cave, 

 in holes in bluffs, and at times in unused buildings. It is frequently placed on some 

 projecting ledge or shelf. Mr. H. D. Minot found a nest of this bird containing five 

 fresh eggs near Manitou, Colorado, on June 8, 1880. It was placed in the roof of a 

 cave, about ten feet from the ground in a niche or pocket with a narrow vertical 

 opening. ,The stones being broken away revealed the nest which rested on the bottom 

 slab. In appearance the structure resembled that of the Eastern Wood Pewee, being 

 composed of twigs, stalks, bits of leaves, thickly felted with down silk and feathers. 

 Mr. Scott says that in Southern Arizona three broods are generally reared each sea- 

 son. The eggs are from four to six in number. Mr. C. B. Benners found this species 

 nesting on the rocky side of a dry river bed in Comal county, Texas, and on April 10 

 took a set of five eggs. The eggs are white, speckled with lavender-gray and vinace- 

 ous-rilfous; in some specimens the markings are chiefly at the larger ends, where 

 they often form indistinct wreaths. The average size is .72x.53 inches. 



717b. DOTTED CANOIT WREN. Catherpes mexicanus punctulatus Ridgw. 

 Geog. Dist. — Oregon and California, west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, and 

 Lower California. 



The Dotted Canon Wren is resident from middle California southward. Its 

 nests and eggs and general habits are the same as those of C. m. eonspersus. 



718. CAROLINA WREN. Thryothorus ludovicianus (Lath.) Geog. Dist. — East- 

 ern United States except Southeastern Florida (rare toward the northern border),, 

 west to the edge of the Great Plains; south to gulf coast, including Northeastern 

 Mexico. Rare in Southern New England. 



A common and well known bird in the more southern portion of its range, being 

 rare or local north of latitude 40°. It may be found almost everywhere, but shady 

 ravines, wooded and rocky banks of streams, piles of logs and brush-heaps are its 

 . favorite haunts. The Carolina Wren has a loud, rich song, which it pours forth while 

 mounted on the end of a fence rail, top of a stump, or the topmost branch of a tree. 

 The song is repeated most frequently, and with more vehemence during the mating 

 season, which is early in spring. Breeding begins in the latter part of March or 

 early in April, and two, sometimes three, broods are reared in a season. The typical 

 nest of this bird in Central Ohio, where it is a common resident, is a massive, coarse 

 structure, made of strips of corn-stalks, grasses, hay and leaves, with an intermixture 

 of the silk of corn ; the lining is of chicken feathers, fine, dry grasses and horse hair. 

 The bird is not particular as to the situation of its nest. It is found in holes of trees, 

 in wood-piles, and in low bushes; sometimes in the nook or corner of a barn; occasion- 

 ally in a box, placed in the verandas of dwellings in retired places; often under an ac- 

 cumulation of brush-wood. Sometimes the nests are arched over or dome-shaped^ 

 the opening being only large enough to admit the bird. The number of eggs laid 

 ranges from four to six, and the average size of twenty specimens is .74x.61; a common 

 size is .72X.56. The ground-color of the eggs varies from a whitish to creamy-whit© 

 or salmon-buff; this is thickly sprinkled with a brownish-pink, and so heavily laid on 

 in some specimens that the surface has this same appearance. Some, however, are 

 marked more heavily at the larger end. 



718o. FLORIDA WREN. Thryothorus ludovicianus miamensis Ridgw. Geog. 

 Dist.— Southern Florida. 



This race of the Carolina Wren belongs to Southern Florida. It is a larger bird 

 and generally more deeply colored than T. ludovicianus. Nesting and eggs Indis- 

 tinguishable. 



