The Western House Wren 
Dept. Agric., Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 30, 1907, p. 60 (food); Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Pub. 
Zool., vol. v., p. 120 (San Bernardino Mts.; habits; migr.; etc.); Willett , Pac. Coast 
Avifauna, no. 7, 1912, p. 102 (s. Calif.; occurrence, nesting dates, etc.). 
THE ARCHAEOLOGY of birds is undoubtedly one of the most 
fascinating departments of ornithology. Our materials are of quite a 
different order from those left by humans. In fact, they are all con¬ 
temporary, or nearly so. There are no shards or tombs or “artifacts” 
of any kind, by which we may trace the earlier stages of avian culture, 
no mummies or skeletons, or at least so few of them that we cannot read 
from them the story of “ethnic” movements among the birds. We must 
read the history of birds in their present structure, plumage, habits, 
voices, nidification, and distribution. Fortunately, these are enlight¬ 
ening to those who scan closely, and who are able to exercise a vigorous 
historical imagination. From such sources we learn that the Wrens 
are an ancient American family, having their ancestral birthplace, or at 
least their more modern center of distribution, within the Tropics, 
probably in Central America. From this center two aggressive types 
first emerged. One, the ancestral Troglodytes 
musculus, proceeded south and conquered 
South America to its farthest extremity, 
being now differentiated upon that 
continent into fourteen recognizable 
forms or subspecies; the other, 
the ancestral Nannus (formerly 
Taken in Pasadena 
Photo by Dickey 
WHERE IS THAT BUG YOU PROMISED ME? 
