CAROLINA WREN. 
275 
the Cardinal Grosbeak, whose expressions it often closely imi- 
tates both in power and delivery. I shall never, I believe, 
forget the soothing satisfaction and amusement I derived from 
this little constant and unwearied minstrel, my sole vocal com- 
panion through many weary miles of a vast, desolate, and 
otherwise cheerless wilderness. Yet with all his readiness to 
amuse by his Protean song, the epitome of all he had ever 
heard or recollected, he was still studious of concealment, 
keeping busily engaged near the ground, or in low thickets, in 
quest of his food ; and when he mounted a log or brush pile, 
which he had just examined, his color, so similar to the fallen 
leaves and wintry livery of Nature, often prevented me from 
gaining a glimpse of this wonderful and interesting mimic. 
Like the preceding species, he has restless activity and a 
love for prying into the darkest comers after his prey, and is 
particularly attached to the vicinity of rivers and wet places, 
when not surrounded by gloomy shade. His quick and capri- 
cious motions, antic jerks, and elevated tail resemble the actions 
of -the House Wren. Eager and lively in his contracted flight, 
before shifting he quickly throws himself foiw’ard, so as'nearly 
to touch his perch previous to springing from his legs. In 
Tuscaloosa and other towns in Alabama he appeared frequently 
upon the tops of the barns and out-houses, delivering with 
energy his varied and desultory lay. At Tallahassee, in West 
Florida, I observed one of these birds chanting near the door 
of a cottage, and occasionally imitating, in his way, the squall- 
ing of the crying child within, so that, like the Mocking Bird, 
all sounds, if novel, contribute to his amusement. 
This species is common in the Southern States and north to 40°, 
being extremely abundant in southern Illinois, and it occasionally 
wanders to northern Ohio and to Massachusetts. 
The Florida Wren (71 hidovicianus miamensis) is 
a larger, darker form, which is restricted to southeastern Florida. 
