A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
The eggs measure .67 by .50 of an inch in their average proportions,
resembling somewhat those of the Carolina Wren, but having a lighter
ground, with fewer and finer markings of slate and reddish-brown. The
ground-color is of a pinkish-white.
Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of these birds in the winter months,
in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, probably of the var. _leucogaster_.
We learn from Mr. Ridgway that in Southern Illinois (as far north as
latitude 38° 20′ 20″) this Wren is very abundant, and the most
familiar species of the family. In certain localities (as in the
Valley of the Wabash) it entirely replaces the _Troglodytes ædon_, the
latter being wholly unknown. In its habits it is even more familiar
than that species, always preferring the out-buildings, even in large
towns, to the neighborhood of the woods, and still further increases
its attractions by possessing a charming song, a real _song_, of sweet
notes finely modulated, and uttered, generally, as the bird perches
upon a fence or the stable roof, its head thrown back, and its long
tail pendent as it sings. The confused, gabbling sputter of _T. ædon_,
uttered as it pauses just for an instant in its restless hopping
through the ivy, cannot be compared to the chant of liquid musical
notes of this species, which resembles more nearly, both in modulation
and power, that of the Song Sparrow (_Melospiza melodia_), though far
superior to it. On ordinary occasions the note of Bewick’s Wren is a
soft, low _plit_, uttered as the bird hops about the fence or stable,
its long tail carried upright, and jerked to one side at each hop. In
its movements it is altogether more deliberate and less restless than
the _T. ludovicianus_, or _Troglodytes ædon_, neither of which it much
resembles in motion, and still less in notes. The nest of this Wren is
usually built about the out-houses, a mortise-hole or some
well-concealed corner being generally selected. Old stables and
ash-hoppers are especially frequented as nesting-places. Mr. Ridgway
found one in the bottom of the conical portion of a quail-net which
was hung up in a shed, and another in a piece of stove-pipe which lay
horizontally in the garret of a smoke-house; another rested upon a
flat board over the door of an out-house, while a fourth was placed
behind the weather-boarding of a building. The nest is generally very
bulky, though the bulk is regulated to suit the size of the cavity in
which the nest is placed. Its materials are usually sticks, straws,
coarse feathers, fine chips, etc., exteriorly fastened together with
masses of spider’s-webs, the lining being of finer and more downy
materials, generally soft spider’s-webs, tow, and especially the downy
feathers of barnyard fowls.
Thryothorus bewickii, var. leucogaster, GOULD.
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