The Carolina Wren (Thyothorus ludovicianus) at Falmouth, Maine. 



On October 3, 1908, a male Carolina Wren was taken at Underwood Springs, 

 Falmouth, Maine, by Mr. Arthur H. Norton, and is preserved in the collec- 

 tion of the Portland Society of Natural History. It had been seen in the 

 vicinity for some weeks previous to its capture, first attracting my atten- 

 tion on August 18, 1908, near the shore at Tawn landing, about an eighth 

 of a mile from Underwood Springs. It was then associated with Robins, 

 Chipping and Song Sparrows. It gave one form of its song, and its alarm 

 note several times. It disappeared in a few moments, but returned to the 

 same locality for two succeeding mornings, at about the same hour of the 

 day. 



It was not seen or heard again until about the middle of September, 

 when its song was heard several times, but the bird was not seen. On 

 September 22 it was seen in the same locality of its first appearance, and 

 that day gave several variations of its song, and was very active' and 

 alert. F rom that time it was watched with great interest each day until 

 the day it was taken. 



During this period it was constantly in company with large numbers of 

 Robins, Cedar-birds, Chipping, Song and White-throated Sparrows, War- 

 blers, Vireos, Kinglets, Chickadees, Thrushes, Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, 

 Purple Finches, Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers: it seemed never to 

 leave their proximity, though keeping near the shore, in shrubs and tangles 

 about the vacant cottages. 



It evidently remained within the small range of Tawn landing and 

 Underwood Springs, a range of about an eighth of a mile in length and of 

 small width, as it could be found at any time in some part of this section, 

 with the same band of migrants.— Mrs. Ernest Brewer, Woodfords, 

 Maine. ' ' 



Capture of the Carolina Wren at Portland, Maine.- It is my wish 

 to place on record the taking of a Carolina Wren ( Thryothorus ludovicianus 

 ludovicianus) on November 3, 1911, since it is, I believe, but the second of 

 its kind ever seen in this vicinity. The bird flew into my sunroom where I 

 secured it by casting a light cloth over it, and placed it in a canary cage 

 swathed about with mosquito netting to prevent its fighting the bars. 

 The bird wa,s active, seemed in good condition, and, with the coming of 

 night, slept serenely; but it died unexpectedly in the morning when I was 

 out of the room. It had taken a little mockingbird food and a Httle soaked 

 cracker, but showed no liking for either. Mr. Arthur H. Norton, who 

 prepared the bird's skin for the Natural History Museum, states that it 

 was an old female and died apparently from natural causes. 



I find that my neighbor had watched this bird in her garden the day 

 before its fatal visit to my house. Bowdoin Street is on the southwestern 

 edge of Portland where grassy fields, wet thicket, the steep wooded slope 

 of the Western Promenade, old gardens, and a sunny old burying ground 

 make admirably diversified territory for birds, bringing us into the midst 

 of spring and fall migrations. 



The other Carolina Wron, a male, was discovered some time in August, 

 1908, at Falmouth, Maine, by Mrs. Ernest Brewer, who observed it through- 

 out the remainder of the summer, until October 3 when Mr. Norton shot 

 it for the Portland Society of Natural History, at whose museum the skins 

 of both these wrens are now kept. 



Records of Mrs. Brewer's Carolina Wren are to be found in ' The Auk,' 

 XXVI, p. 82; and in an article by her in the Journal of the Maine Orni- 

 thological Society, XI, pp. 4-10.— Caroune M. Stevens, Portland, Me: 



Auk S«. Jau-190^,p. 



Adk 29. Jaii,19Jg, p. /o6~ 0/ 



