Part 36

This is one of the most common birds throughout the United States, being found equally abundantly in gardens, swamps and scrubby pastures. They are very persistent songsters and have a large repertoire of notes, as well as being able to imitate those of many other birds. They delight in spending an hour or more at a time, perched in a bush or tree top, singing, and apparently making their song up as they go along, for it is an indescribable medley interspersed with various mews and cat calls.

Song.—A medley like that of the Mockingbird; sometimes pleasing, sometimes not.

Nest.—In hedges or thickets; made of twigs, rootlets and grass, lined with fine black roots; the four eggs are plain greenish blue (.95 × .70).

Range.—N. A., breeding from the Gulf to New Brunswick and Hudson Bay; rare west of the Rockies; winters from the Gulf States southward.

BROWN THRASHER 705. Toxostoma rufum. 11½ inches

Above bright reddish brown; below white with black spots.

Taken as a whole I think that the song of this Thrasher is the most musical and pleasing of any that I have ever heard. It has a similarity to that of the Catbird, but is rounder, fuller and has none of the grating qualities of the song of that species. They apparently have a song of their own and do not deign to copy that of others. They are one of the most useful and desirable birds that we have.

Song.—A bright and cheerful carol, often long continued, but always clear and sweet; call, a clear whistled “wheuu.”

Nest.—Of twigs and rootlets, in hedges, thickets or thorn bushes; the four or five eggs are bluish white with numerous fine dots or reddish brown over the entire surface (1.08 × .80).

Range.—Eastern N. A., breeding from the Gulf to southern Canada; winters in the southern half of the U. S.

CACTUS WREN 713. Heleodytes brunneicapillus. 8½ inches

Cactus groves are the favorite resorts of these large Wrens. Often a bed of cactus not more than thirty feet square will contain the homes of half a dozen pairs of them. Like all the members of the family, they are very sprightly and have violent tempers, scolding any one or anything that incurs their displeasure.

Nest.—Their nests are placed in cactus or other thorny shrubs; they are very large, purse-shaped affairs with an entrance on the side; they are made of little thorny twigs and grasses woven together, and the interior is warmly lined with feathers. The four or five eggs are creamy white, finely sprinkled with reddish brown (.95 × .65). Two or three broods are often raised in a season.

Range.—Southwestern border of the United States, ranging from southern Texas to California.

ROCK WREN 715. Salpinctes obsoletus. 5¾ inches

Upper parts stone color, specked with black; rump brownish; underparts whitish with indistinct streaks on the throat.

A common bird on the dry, rocky foothills of the Rockies and westward. They are well named, for their favorite places are among the rocks, where they are always busily engaged in hunting insects or spiders in the crevices. Owing to their colors and their habits of slinking away behind the rocks they are quite difficult to see, but their sweet song is always heard if any of the birds are in the vicinity.

Song.—Very sweet and varied, almost canary-like, but impossible to describe; call, a harsh grating note.

Nest.—Of sticks, weeds, grasses, etc., concealed in crevices among the rocks; the five or six eggs are white, sparingly specked with reddish brown (.72 × .54).

Range.—Western U. S. from the western border of the Plains to the Pacific, north to Dakota and British Columbia; winters from southwestern U. S. southward.

CAROLINA WREN 718. Thryothorus ludovicianus. 5½ inches

Above rusty brown and below washed with the same, the throat and line over the eye being white.

Like all the Wrens, this one commonly sits or flits about in the brush, with the tail erect over the body; only when singing it is held downward. Their flight is usually only for a short distance, accomplished by rapid wing beats and with a jerking motion of the tail.

Song.—Loud and tinkling, and utterly impossible to describe.

Nest.—In brush heaps, holes in trees, bird boxes or bushes; made of weeds, grass and any trash that they may pick up; eggs, five to seven in number, white, specked with reddish brown (.74 × .60).

Range.—Eastern U. S., breeding from the Gulf north to Connecticut and Illinois; resident. 718a. Florida Wren (miamensis) is found in southern Florida. 718b. Lomita Wren (lomitensis), found in southern Texas.

BEWICK WREN 719. Thryomanes bewickii. 5 inches

Above dark brown; below and line over eye whitish; tail blackish with the outer feathers barred with white.