20 • Bird Studies. 



ing places similar to those of the House Wren. At a point in the Allegha- 

 nies, not far from Roanoke, Virginia, known as Mountain Lake, I found 

 these birds breeding commonly, and there appeared to be no House Wrens 

 proper in the region. Just in front of the large hotel, one of the hitching- 

 posts had been bored with an auger. This hole had been somewhat en- 

 larged in the heart of the post by decay, and here a pair of Bewick's Wrens 

 nested. The song was clear and bolder than that of the House Wren and 

 seemed to have more the air of a conscious performance. 



The upper parts of Bewick's Wren are dark umber brown. The rump 

 has the same concealed white spots noticed in the House Wren. The 

 larger wing feathers are unmarked. The two central tail feathers are barred, 

 and the outer ones are blackish, with grayish white tips. There is a grayish 

 white line on the side of the head, over the eye. The under parts are gray 

 and the flanks brown. The bird is about five inches and a quarter long. 



It ranges in Eastern North America chiefly west of the Alleghany 

 Mountains, being rare locally east of the mountains. It is found as far north 

 as Maryland and Delaware, and extends irregularly north in the Mississippi 

 Valley to Southern Minnesota. It ranges west as far as the eastern edge 

 of the Plains. It winters in the southern portion of its range. The nest is 

 very like that of the House Wren. The eggs are four to seven in number, 

 and are pinkish white when fresh, spotted with brown and lavender, generally 

 more thickly at the larger end. The eggs are nearly seven tenths of an inch 

 long, and about half an inch in their other diameter. 



This is the largest wren that we have in Eastern North America. A 

 bird of the more southern regions and generally resident where it occurs, it 

 is found from the Gulf States north to Southern Con- 

 "^ Thryothorus ludovicianus necticut aud Northem Illinois. In the region about 

 (Lath.). Washington and to the south it is a common and con- 



spicuous bird, both on account of size and song. The sexes are much alike, 

 and the young on leaving the nest are similar to the old birds in appearance. 

 The birds are rusty brown above, varying in shade in different indi- 

 viduals. This color is duller on the top of the head and becomes gradually 

 brighter, being brightest on the rump, which has concealed downy white spots. 

 There is a stripe above the eye on the side of the head of white or buff. 

 This is divided from the crown by a narrow black line, sometimes obscure. 

 The wings and tail, rather darker than the back, are finely barred with dark 



