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Range (Eastern United States breeds) (XIV)

Eastern United States; breeds from the Gulf States to southern lowa, northern Illinois, and southern Connecticut; resident, except at the northern limit of its range.

Washington, common P. R.

Nest, bulky, of grasses, feathers, leaves, etc., lined with finer grasses, long hairs, etc., in holes in trees or stumps, nooks and crevices about buildings, etc. Eggs, four to six, white or creamy white, with numerous cinnamon-, rufous-brown, and lavender markings, sometimes wreathed about the larger end, 75 x 58.

The cozy nooks and corners about the home of man which prove so attractive to the House Wren have no charms for this bird. His wild nature demands the freedom of the forests, and he shows no disposition to adapt himself to new conditions. Undergrowths near water, fallen tree tops, brush heaps, and rocky places in the woods where he can dodge in and out and in a twinkling appear or disappear, like a feathered Jack-in-the-box, are the resorts he chooses. The nervous activity so characteristic of all Wrens reaches in him its highest development. Whatever he may be when alone, he is never at rest so long as he imagines himself observed. Now he is on this side of us, now on that: a moment later, on a stump before us, bobbing up and down and gesticulating wildly with his expressive tail; but as a rule he is seldom in sight more than a second at a time.

Of course, so excitable a nature must find other than physical outlet for his irrepressible energy, and he accompanies his movements by more or less appropriate notes: scolding cacks, clinking, metallic rattles, musical trills, tree-toadlike krrrings-in fact, he possesses an almost endless vocabulary. He is sometimes called Mocking Wren, but the hundreds of birds I have heard were all too original to borrow from others. In addition to his peculiar calls he possesses a variety of loud, ringing whistles, somewhat similar in tone to those of the Tufted Titmouse or Cardinal, and fully as loud as if not louder than the notes of the latter. The more common ones resemble the syllables whee-udel, whee-udel, whee-udel, and tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle. THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 718a. T. 1. miamensis Ridgw. FLORIDA WREN.-Similar to the preceding, but larger; upper parts darker; under parts more deeply colored. W., 2·46; T., 2-19; B., 70.