The Bewick Wrens 
themselves cruelly in first attempts. Yet they took their punishment 
uncomplainingly, or exhibited but the mildest surprise that their world 
should be so beset. Theirs is a hard life, inexplicable, save as we cast 
the blame upon the ‘‘lure of the desert,” which claims many victims, and 
those most willing, among human kind. 
All proper desert areas west of San Gorgonio Pass are being threat¬ 
ened sharply by the human invasion. Those joyous bits of desert 
“washes” which the canyons of the San Gabriel Mountains shoot down 
like arrows into the heart of the plains, have become so cluttered up with 
bungalows and chicken coops that one is ashamed to be caught prowling 
around. The last nest I found, near Roscoe, was stuffed with “Plymouth 
Rock” chicken-feathers. Recognizing the futility of further effort the 
birdman adjourned next door and had a drink of ice cream soda—“All 
ices received fresh from the city daily.” 
The Cactus Wren has receded from many parts of the San Diego- 
Ventura section already, and is in danger of being altogether cut off. 
It is a pity, for he not only brought us the authentic breath of the wilder¬ 
ness, but so long as his home was untouched he waged unceasing warfare 
on spiders, wasps, beetles, and grasshoppers, while from the neighboring 
olive-yard he culled the dreaded scale insect. 
No. 134 
Bewick’s Wren 
No. 134a Desert Wren 
A. 0 . U. No. 719b, part. Thryomanes bewicki eremophilus Oberholser. 
Synonyms.— Baird’s Wren (part). Desert Bewick Wren. 
Description. —Similar to the next form, but larger and much paler above and 
below. Length of males (skins) 129 (5.08); wing 58 (2.28); tail 53 (2.087); bill 14.8 
(.58); tarsus 18.4 (.72). 
Nesting of Thryomanes bewicki in California.— Nest: Indescribably varied in 
construction; in general, any available soft or pliable material to fill any available hole or 
cranny; basallv of sticks, twigs, weed-stems, grasses, bark, or moss; lining of fine grasses, 
hair, fur, or feathers; placed in old woodpecker holes, in crannies about buildings, in 
trash-piles, or, not infrequently, in crannies and crevices of 'dobe cliffs, or barranca walls. 
Eggs: 3 to 6, usually 5; white, sprinkled rather sparingly with reddish brown; sometimes 
handsomely wreathed. Av. size 16 x 12.2 (.63 x .48). Season: April—June; two broods. 
Range of Thryomanes bewicki .—The Lfnited States, southerly, and Mexico. 
Range of T. b. eremophilus .—Southern Great Basin region, broadly, and Mexico 
south to Zacatecas. 
Distribution in California. — Breeds in the desert ranges and higher valleys 
(Lone Pine, June 16, 1911; George Creek, May 19, 1919) southeast of the Sierra Nevada; 
retires to the adjacent valleys and the southern deserts in winter. 
667 
