THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
47 
ington, I received from Mr. Bourbois, 
at Lomita, a nest and four eggs of this 
species, taken about April 1, 1879, on 
his ranch. The nest is smaller and 
more frail than the one I obtained, and 
composed of about equal parts of fine 
inner bark and wool, with which are 
intermingled many bits of snakeskins. 
Of its location I have not yet received 
notes. The eggs were fresh, and vary 
much in size and markings. The 
gu-ound-cblor is pinkish-white. The 
spots of reddish-brown are small and 
few in number, and scattered over the 
greater part of the egg, but at the 
larger end they are large and numer¬ 
ous, covering nearly the whole end, 
though in no case forming a ring. In 
shape they are round at one end, and 
round-pointed at the other, with the 
greatest diameter near the centre. 
Their sizes are respectfully .70 by .55; 
.69 by .55; .63 by .54; .60 by .46. 
In Mr. Brewster’s notes (Bull. Nut. 
Orn. Club, vol. iv No. 2, April, 1879, 
page 76), the measurements given of 
the three eggs in Mr. Ricksecker’s col¬ 
lection are considerably larger than 
my single specimen described at the 
head of this article, and previously 
given in “Science News,” vol. 1, No. 4, 
p, 57. But, by comparison with the 
sizes of the present set, it will be seen 
that my first egg was not so great an 
exception in size as Mr. Ricksecker’s 
eggs would lead one to suppose. It 
will be noticed that the largest egg of 
my set of four is still smaller than the 
smallest of his, and that of this last set 
of four one is even smaller than the one 
I obtained in 1878. 
CACTUS WREN 
(Campy lorhynchus Brunneicapillus.) 
On my former trip I did not find a 
single one of this species between the 
mouth of the river and Hidalgo. On 
this trip, about seven miles above Hi¬ 
dalgo, where the foot-hills begin, I 
found it not uncommon in certain lo¬ 
calities. The limit of this bird’s habi¬ 
tat in the United States is, on the east, 
very strictly defined. At a point from 
the Gulf about one hundred miles by 
road or three hundred by river, occurs 
its eastern limit. Here I came upon a 
ridge densely covered with cactuses of 
large size and a few scattering trees, 
where I found this bird in such num¬ 
bers that at times a dozen could be seen 
at once; and in an hour or two three of 
us examined as many as fifty nests in 
different stages of completion, from 
those just begun to those containing 
young ready to fly. The nest is large 
and usually confined to the prickly- 
pear cactus, so that it is easily found. 
In flight this bird appeared to me 
more like a thrush than a wren. It 
was not very shy when away from the 
nest, and we could easily approach to 
within gunshot range; but at nearer 
approach it would dart off into thick¬ 
ets or trees, where it would dodge 
about among the branches, peering 
and scolding at us continually. Its 
song is loud and rather harsh, and un¬ 
like any other bird’s song within my 
knowledge. I am unable to describe 
it. I have come upon this bird while 
feeding upon the seeds of ground-cacti, 
or upon worms or grubs in the ground. 
Many specimens taken had their bills 
covered with mud. It was very diffi¬ 
cult to see it about its nest. Only once 
did I see one fly from a nest which was 
but half constructed. I saw nothing 
like creeping in its habits, and I do not 
know why it should be named Brown- 
headed Creeper Wren. I did not meet 
with it until the 7th of May, probably 
owing to our having to go some dis¬ 
tance from the ranch to reach the open 
cactus ridges, where it loves to dwell. 
It is eminently a bird of the cactus, 
still not altogether confined to it for 
nesting purposes. I have discovered its 
