THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 35 
A Rare Visitor in Evanston 
By BERTHA PATTEE 
‘To have a Carolina Wren singing in one’s own yard at Christmas 
time, and coming to the window feeding shelf to claim his share with the 
other winter birds is to mark a most unusual event in a bird-lover’s records. 
It was about the middle of September that the song of the Wren was 
heard for the first time. It was mistaken for that of the Tufted Titmouse 
since the bird was whistling only the “peto” notes which so closely resemble 
those of the latter bird. 
‘Two weeks later, on the 28th to be exact, the same song was heard 
again, but this time the bird was giving short samples of other things he 
could sing as well. My curiosity was aroused and a brief search discovered 
the singer in the wild tangle near the house, sitting on a grapevine swing, 
arranging his feathers after a dip in the pool. His bright, brown back, 
broad creamy line over the eye, and buffy breast soon revealed the fact 
that he was no Titmouse. In a moment his scolding Wren-like notes pro- 
claimed his family, and I realized to my astonishment he must be a Caro- 
lina Wren. Never before had I seen or heard one, but excited reference 
to Chapman soon confirmed the identification. It gave us a distinct thrill 
to have such a rare visitor and we were even more surprised to have him 
linger about from day to day and week to week giving frequent variations 
of his loud clear song. Indeed he is much more often heard than seen. 
On Tuesday, the 6th of October, I first saw him eating suet on the 
tree near the food shelf; on the 12th he was discovered: on the suet stick 
attached to the shelf and I had my first “close up” of him, his slender 
slightly curved bill being very plain in spite of his quick motions. 
On the 2nd of November a neighbor four blocks away reported that 
the Wren had been over to sample her suet and give her a song. Since 
then he has been heard and seen in the neighborhood by a number of others 
who know birds well. In fact people who do not know birds well have 
also been conscious of this unusual song and have been curious to know 
what bird could be singing so beautifully this time of year. 
His song is of course his most distinctive feature. He sings for short 
intervals nearly every day, usually early in the morning, but he is very 
erratic, as he gave his loud “‘wa chee co” call one rainy afternoon in De- 
cember just before dark. “The song is remarkable for its ringing clear- 
ness and its variety of repeated notes, which often resemble those of other 
birds, notably the Cardinal and the Titmouse. In early January the Wren 
was still with us. 
