The Canyon Wrens 
ains. Also sparingly in the Warner Mountains (Grinnell). Occurs commonly in winter 
on the southeastern desert and in the valley of the Colorado. 
Authorities. — Fisher, A. K. ( Catherpes mexicanus conspersus ), U. S. Dept. 
Agric., N. Am. Fauna, no. 7, 1893, p. 133 (Panamint Mts Lamb, Condor, vol. xiv., 
1912, p. 40 (Yermo, Mohave Desert); Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 11, 1905, p. 
157 (distr. in Calif.); ibid., Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xii., 1914, p. 209 (Lower Colo¬ 
rado Valley; occurrence, etc.). 
No. 138b Auburn Canyon Wren 
A. O. U. No. 717b. Catherpes mexicanus punctulatus Ridgway. 
Synonym.— Dotted Canyon Wren (misleading because bird not more con¬ 
spicuously dotted than other forms). 
Description. —Like C. m. conspersus, but decidedly darker; the brown of tail and 
belly averaging about auburn. 
Nesting. — Nest: In potholes or crannies of rock-walls; basally of sticks, but 
body of nest built up bulkily of substances increasingly soft, the exterior and lining 
exquisitely felted of wool, plant-down, moss, catkins, cocoons, spider-egg-cases, and 
cobwebs—the handsomest of all wrens’ nests. Eggs: 5; white, very variable as to 
marking, sometimes nearly immaculate, or finely and sparingly sprinkled, or coarsely 
and sharply spotted with reddish brown. Av. size 17.8 x 13.5 (.70 x .53). Season: 
May; one (?) brood. 
Range of C. m. punctulatus .—Upper and Lower Sonoran zones from west central 
Idaho, southeastern Washington, and eastern Oregon south through California, chiefly 
west of the Sierra Nevada. 
Distribution in California. —Common resident in the mountainous portions of 
southern California; less common resident along both slopes of the Sierra Nevada and 
through the coast ranges, at least the inner ones, north irregularly to Shasta County. 
Occurs regularly on Santa Cruz Island. 
Authorities. — Heermann ( Troglodytes mexicanus) , Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 
ser. 2, ii., 1853, p. 263 (Calif.; Cosumnes and Calaveras rivers); Ridgway. Proc. U\ S. 
Nat. Mus., vol. v., 1882, p. 343 (orig. desc.; Forest Hill. Placer Co.); U. S. Nat. Mus. 
Bull. 50, part iii., 1904, pp. 659, 660 (monogr.; name C. m. polioptilus used for some 
Calif, spec.); Pierce, Condor, vol. ix., 1907, p. 16 (desc. of nest; San Gabriel Mts.); 
Willett, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 7, 1912, p. 101 (s. Calif.; nesting dates, etc.). 
SAVE in the brimful Sierras and along the dank coasts of the North, 
the cataracts of California go dry in the summer season. The torrential 
water-courses which carry off the surplusage of March are silent by 
April, and in May a worm might crawl unrebuked across the face of a 
rock worn smooth by the flood waters of winter. How the moment 
is redeemed, then, when a bird comes tumbling down a precipice of 
song, hurling himself recklessly from rock to rock till he seems to lay 
the vocal tribute at your very feet. “Seems,” I say, for it is all a vocal 
artifice, a tour de force of the artistic imagination which has called up 
the imagery of winter. We know it is a trick, and we have seen the 
singer clinging the while with his eight sharp toes to a boss of rock, 
yet we shall never hear the “dropping song” of the Canyon Wren without 
