WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 445 
717. Catherpes mexicanus albifrons ( Giraud ). White- 
throated Wren. 
Like conspersus, but larger and darker; upper parts from dark rusty to 
sepia; wings barred with rusty. Length: 6.00-0.50, wing 2.40-2.90, tail 
2.80-2.45, exposed culmen .70-.95. 
Distribution. —Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and northeastern Mexico. 
717a. C. m. conspersus Bidgw. Canyon Wren. 
Adults. — Brown except for white throat and breast; upper parts light 
brown, grayish on head, speckled with 
white and blackish; tail rusty brown, 
crossed by narrow black bars; belly dark 
rusty brown. Young : essentially like 
adults, but usually without white specks Fi g- 57 °- 
on upper parts or posterior under parts, which are, instead, mottled, more 
or less, with dusky. Length: 5.50-5.75, wing 2.20-2.40, tail 2*00-2.40, 
exposed culmen .70-85. 
Distribution. — Great Basin and Rocky Mountain region from the Sierra 
Nevada and Cascades east to Colorado, and from Idaho south to Aguas 
Calientes, Mexico; breeds nearly throughout its range and is resident in 
the southern parts of its United States distribution. 
Nest. —In crevices of rocks, on ledge in tunnel or cave, or about build¬ 
ings, made with thick soft walls covered with green moss. Eggs : 3 to 5, 
white, spotted chiefly on larger end with reddish brown and lilac gray. 
Sometimes, as at Austin, Texas, canyon wrens will stray into cities 
and sing from the chimney tops with the mockingbirds, and when 
they do, what cool, grateful canyon memories they awaken in the 
midst of the town ! When heard afterwards on their own native 
canyon cliffs it seems impossible that they could ever sing in a city, 
their song is so attuned to the wild mountain fastnesses. 
The bit of a wren may be on a ledge so high above your head that 
you pick him out among the rocks only by the round white spot 
which is his throat and which shows as his head is thrown back to 
sing, but yet his voice is so powerful that the canyon fairly rings 
with his song. What joyous notes ! They sound as if his happi¬ 
ness were so great that he needs must proclaim it. His song comes 
tripping down the scale growing so fast it seems as if the song¬ 
ster could only stop by giving his odd little flourish back up the 
scale again at the end. The ordinary song has seven descending 
notes, but often, as if out of pure exuberance of happiness, the wren 
begins with a run of grace notes, ending with the same little flourish. 
The rare character of the song is its rhapsody and the rich vibrant 
quality which has suggested the name of bugler for him, — and a 
glorious little bugler he surely is. 
717b. C. m. punctulatus Bidgw. Dotted Canyon Wren. 
Similar to conspersus , but smaller and bill shorter, and more thickly 
spotted on back. 
Distribution. — Oregon and California west of the Cascades and Sierra 
Nevada to Lower California; resident from southern California southward. 
