The Wren-Tits 
Range of C.f. pluza .—Resident in humid coastal strip from southern boundaries 
of Humboldt County north to the Columbia River. 
Authorities.—Townsend (Chamaea fasciata), Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. x., 
1887, p. 229 (Humboldt Bay; song); Osgood, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., vol. xiii., 1899, p. 42 
(orig. desc.); Fisher, Condor, iv., 1902, p. 135 (Humboldt and Del Norte counties). 
824 
ALTHOUGH so modest of garb and mien, the Wren-Tit is in a sense 
the most distinctive bird of California. For in its one small anatomy 
Chamcea exhibits differences which seem to entitle it to family rank. 
The monotypic family so constituted, the Chammdce, enjoys the further 
distinction of being the only family peculiar to North America. Either 
the bird has been here a very long time, or it has dropped from the skies 
“most unexpected.” In any case chamcea is the original “Native Son” 
of California. Familiar spirit of the chaparral and all lowland tangles, 
it is also one of the commonest of the birds of California. Within its 
very considerable associational range, it will take first place for uniformity 
of distribution, and will yield 
only to the Linnet in point 
of numbers. 
Let us, then, repair to 
the chaparral forthwith and 
seek acquaintance with this 
member of California’s first 
family. Ten to one, the bird 
heralds his presence in the 
all but impenetrable bush by 
a staccato song of flute-like 
notes—welling up from no¬ 
where in particular, but 
audible for a quarter of a 
mile at least. Pursuit of the 
songster would only provoke 
retreat, and the Wren-Tit is 
a master scout in these track¬ 
less mazes. A better way is 
to creep in under cover a few 
feet from the trail, and to 
summon the bird by screep¬ 
ing. Presently one and then 
another will appear, for they 
almost invariably travel in 
Taken in Pasadena From a photograph,'Copyright 1014. by D. R. Dickey pairs, moving quietly through 
exerciselon the inclined bar the middle growths. As the 
