The Rock Wren 
Taken in the Warner Mountains 
themselves appear to regret that they must make choice of a single 
cranny, for they “fix up” half a dozen of the likeliest. And when it 
comes to lining the approaches to the chosen cavity, what do you suppose 
they use? Why rocks, of course—not large ones this time, but flakes 
and pebbles, whether of sandstone, limestone, granite, basalt, or whatever 
the country rock may be. These rock-chips are sometimes an inch or 
more in diameter, and it is difficult to conceive how a bird with such a 
delicate beak can compass their removal. Here they are, however, to 
the quantity of half a 
pint or more, and they 
are just as much a 
necessity to every well- 
regulated Salpinctian 
household as marble 
steps are to Phila¬ 
delphians. 
In two instances 
which have come under 
my observation where 
the nesting cranny was 
too cramped to allow the 
full complement of 
pebbles, the theme was 
taken up on the next 
available level space 
below. In the case pic¬ 
tured here, that level 
space was the ground. 
The nest proper, also 
composed basally of 
rock-flakes, occupies the 
innermost recess of the 
burnt-out log-end. But 
the lower lip of this log 
would not harbor addi¬ 
tional rock-flakes by 
reason of steepness. 
Instead, however, of 
being suffered to pile up 
in an aimless heap on 
the ground, they are 
methodically arranged, 
Photo by the Author 
AS PER REGULATIONS 
688 
