The Bewick Wrens 
Authorities.—Vigors ( Troglodytes spilurus ), Zool. Voyage “Blossom,” 1839, 
p. 18, pi. iv., fig. 1 (orig. desc.; Monterey or San Francisco); Oberholser , Proc. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., vol. xxi., 1898, p. 438 (monogr.); Beal, U. S. Dept. Agric., Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 
30, 1907, p. 57, part (food); Allen, Condor, vol. xvii., 1915, pp. 82-84 (Berkeley; nesting); 
Swarth, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 4th ser., vol. vi., no. 4, 1916, p. 67, map (monogr.; 
distr.; crit.). 
No. I34h Nicasio Wren 
A. O. U. No. 719a, part. Thryomanes bewicki marinensis Grinnell. 
Description. —Similar to T. b. spilurus, but dorsal coloration brighter brown, 
of a Vandyke tone, and flanks and light intervals on erissum strongly washed with 
Vandyke brown” (Grinnell). 
Range of T. b. marinensis (Wholly contained within California).—Resident 
in the humid coastal strip from San Francisco Bay north through Marin, Sonoma, and 
Mendocino counties, at least to the Eel River in Ffumboldt County (Elinor, June 15, 
1916). 
Authorities. — Oberholser ( Thryomanes bewickii spilurus), Proc. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., vol. xxi., 1898, p. 438, part (monogr.; comment upon spec, from Marin Co.); 
Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. v., 1910, p. 307 (orig. desc.; Nicasio, Marin Co.). 
A CAREFUL LIST of the dozen most prominent birds of California 
must make early mention of the Bewick Wren. “Prominent” is not 
exactly the word to use, either, if it suggests large size or brilliant plumage 
or bold behavior. The Bewick Wren has none of these marks,—but 
he is one of the dozen most abundant, best distributed, most versatile, 
most adaptable, and most characteristic birds of the West. Dominant 
is, perhaps, a better epithet, though “prominent” is recognized as suitable 
by one who has mastered the intricacies and varieties of the Thryomanian 
song. 
That our hero’s tenure of Californian soil is of long standing 
is evidenced by the several varieties which are now recognized within our 
borders—each reflecting, if we had skill to read the evidence, some 
reaction of local environment—and by the fact that the species enjoys a 
great altitudinal range, viz., from sea level up to 8000 or 9000 feet. These 
minute differences, whether of relative length of bill and wing or barring 
of tail, it is not worth our while to follow^ out in this connection; nor is it 
often worth while to trace these shades of physical change anyway, unless 
it can be clearly shown that they are accompanied by contrasting be¬ 
havior characters, or by constant differences in song. This our present 
knowledge of the several races of the Bewick Wren does not permit us to 
do, and we feel justified in treating them practically as one. 
But as compared with the Bewick Wren of the East, one hastens 
to say that the western races bulk larger in the scheme of things, and 
have acquired a greater versatility in song. For to the characteristic 
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