The Bird Book Part 101

718a. FLORIDA WREN. _Thryothorus ludovicia.n.u.s miamensis._

Range.--Southern Florida.

A similar bird to the last but darker above and brighter below. Its eggs are not distinguishable from those of the last.

718b. LOMITA WREN. _Thryothorus ludovicia.n.u.s lomitensis._

Range.--Southern Texas.

This sub-species is abundant along the Lower Rio Grande in southern Texas, where its habits are the same as those of the others and the eggs are not distinctive.

[Ill.u.s.tration 427: Carolina Wren.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 717a--719a.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 426

719. BEWICK'S WREN. _Thryomanes bewicki bewicki._

Range.--South Atlantic and Gulf States, and the Mississippi Valley north to Minnesota and locally to the Middle States in the east.

This species is not common on the Atlantic coast but in the interior it is the most abundant of the Wrens, nesting in holes in trees, stumps, fences, bird boxes, tin cans, etc., filling the cavities with gra.s.s and rootlets. Their eggs are laid in the latter part of April or May; they are white, specked and usually wreathed about the large end with reddish brown and purplish. Size .65 .50.

719a. VIGORS'S WREN. _Thryomanes bewicki spilurus._

Range.--Pacific coast of California.

This similar bird to the last has the same general habits and the eggs are not in any way different from those of Bewick's Wren.

719b. BAIRD'S WREN. _Thryomanes bewicki bairdi._

Range.--Southwestern United States, from western Texas to eastern California and north to Colorado and Nevada.

Like the two preceding Wrens, this one nests in natural or artificial cavities, and the four to seven eggs that they lay are precisely alike, in every respect, to those of the others.

719c. TEXAS WREN. _Thryomanes bewicki cryptus._

Range.--Texas, north in summer to western Kansas.

A very abundant bird in Texas. Nesting habits not unusual nor eggs distinctive.

719d. SAN DIEGO WREN. _Thryomanes bewicki charienturus._

Range.--Coast of southern California.

719e. SEATTLE WREN. _Thryomanes bewicki calophonus._

Range.--Pacific coast from Oregon to British Columbia.

These last two sub-species have recently been separated from Vigors's Wren, but their habits and eggs remain the same as those of that variety.

719.1. SAN CLEMENTE WREN. _Thryomanes leucophrys._

Range.--San Clemente Island, California.

This species is similar to Vigors's Wren but is grayer and paler above.

It is not peculiar in its nesting habits and the eggs are like those of _bewicki_.

720. GUADALUPE WREN. _Thryomanes brevicauda._

Range.--Guadalupe Island.

A very similar species to the Vigors's Wren; nesting habits and the eggs are not apt to differ in any respect.

[Ill.u.s.tration 428: Bewick's Wren.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

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721. HOUSE WREN. _Troglodytes aedon._

Range.--North America east of the Mississippi, breeding from the Gulf north to Manitoba and Ontario; winters in the southern half of the United States.

This familiar and noisy little Wren is the most abundant and widely distributed of the Wrens; they are met with on the edges of woods, swamps, fields, pastures, orchards and very frequently build about houses, in bird houses or any nook that may suit them; they fill the cavity of the place they may select with twigs, gra.s.s, feathers, plant down, etc., and lay from five to nine eggs in a set and frequently three sets a year. The eggs are pinkish white, very profusely and minutely dotted with pale reddish brown so as to make the egg appear to be a nearly uniform salmon color and with a wreath of darker spots about the large end. Size .65 .52. Data.--Gretna, N. Y., May 29, 1896. Nest three feet from the ground in cavity of an apple tree; made of twigs and gra.s.s, and lined with hair and feathers.

721a. WESTERN HOUSE WREN. _Troglodytes aedon parkmani._

Range.--United States, from the Mississippi Valley to eastern California.

This variety is grayer above and below than the eastern form, but its habits and eggs do not differ in any respect.

722. WINTER WREN. _Nannus hiemalis hiemalis._

Range.--Eastern North America, breeding from northern United States northward, and south in the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters in the United States.

These are the smallest of the Wrens, being but four inches in length; they have a very short tail which, like those of the others, is carried erect over the back during excitement or anger. They are very sly birds and creep about through stone walls and under brush like so many mice; they have a sweet song but not as loud as that of the House Wren. Their nests are placed in crevices of stumps, walls, old buildings or in brush heaps, being made of twigs and leaves, lined with feathers. Their eggs, which are laid during May or June, are pure white, finely and sparingly dotted with reddish brown; size .60 .48.