288 
REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 
the young ir. which were just ready to chip the shell. The rock wren is thus aroon„ 
the very first of the small birds to lay. The eggs vary so little as to be easily c larac- 
teristic of the species; ground-color pure white, with a rather even distil uution o\( r 
the entire surface of minute, roundish, reddish-brown spots. 
Troglodytes Vieillot. 
T. cedon jmrlmanni And. Western House Wren. 
Numerous as a summer resident all along the eastern slope. As a rule, keeps in the 
timber of the uncivilized districts, and seems rather loth to accept the accommodations 
ottered in the towns, where, however, it is occasionally seen. 
T. hyemnlia pactficus Bd. Western Winter Wren. 
This bird was not met with until the Columbia River was reached ; here in October 
it was found to be very abundant, more so, in fact, than I have ever known the winter 
wren to be elsewhere. Nearly every brush-heap contained at least one of these sput¬ 
tering, scolding mites, while not rarely several were heard or seen in the space of a 
few yards. It was found on both slopes of the Cascades, although it was not nearly so 
numerous upon the east side of the mountains as upon the west. As fall advances, it 
finds its way farther south, and reaches on both slopes as low as the latitude of San Fran¬ 
cisco. I am inclined to believe that it breeds all through the pine woods of the mount¬ 
ains near the Columbia. It winters here, as also, according to Cooper, in M ashiugton 
'Territory. 
Cistothorus Baird. 
C. palustris Wils. Long-billed Marsh Wre 
Extremely abundant in all the tule marshes. 
PARIDrE—Titmice. 
Lophophanes Kaup. 
L. inornatus (Garnb.). Plain Titmouse. 
This species is present in Nevada in the foot-hills of the mountains and on the low 
ranges to the east of the main chain. It was not met with in the Columbia River re¬ 
gion, nor even in Northern California. 
Parus Linnaeus. 
P. rufescens Towns. Chestnut-back Chickadee. 
According to Dr. Cooper, this species is the most abundant of the family in Washing¬ 
ton Territory, wdiere, however, it is probably limited for the most part or entirely to 
the districts west of the mountains. Such, at least, appears to be the case in Oregon, 
where the species did not fall under my observation until at the Cascades on the 
western slope, where I saw a single small flock in October. It is probably a summer 
resident here, and perhaps even farther south in Northern California. In fall it mi¬ 
grates to below San Francisco, but does not appear upon the eastern side of the chain. 
P. montanus Gamb. Mountain Chickadee. 
Breeds numerously among the pines. Extremely abundant among the oaks of the 
eastern slope, near the Columbia River. 
Psaltp.iparus Bonaparte. 
P. jjlimbeusBd. Plumbeous Titmouse. 
This chickadee, which is peculiar to the middle province, extends its range clear to 
the foot-hills of the Sierras, but does not enter the mountains. Thus, among the barren 
pinou hills near Carson City, I saw, in July, a flock of twenty or thirty individuals. 
SITTIDiE—Nuthatches. 
Sitta Linnaeus. 
S. canadensis L. Red-bellied Nuthatch. 
This species appears so much oftener in the local lists of the Eastern States than of 
the W estern that many ornithologists have come to regard it as a quite typically east 
