Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (1)

the middle of May, in a small beech-tree, the excavation having been made at the height of twelve feet from the ground. The hole was about as large as that made by the Downy Woodpecker. When first noticed, the bird was looking out of the hole. Having been started out, she flew to a limb close by and watched the party some time. When she flew back, she buzzed before the hole in the manner of a Humming-Bird, and then darted in. While Mr. Paine was looking on, the male came several times to feed his mate, who would meet him at the opening with a clamorous noise, to receive his bounty. The nest contained five eggs.

In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen speaks of this species as chiefly a winter resident, appearing the first week in October, and leaving the last of April.

The eggs of this species measure .62 by .48 of an inch, and are of an oblong-oval shape. Their ground-color is a clear crystal white, marked principally about the larger end with a wreath of purple and roseate markings.

Sitta pygmæa, VIG.

PIGMY NUTHATCH.

_Sitta pygmæa_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voy. 1839, 25, pl. iv.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. V, 1839, pl. ccccxv.—IB. Birds Am. IV, pl.
ccl.—REICH. Handb. 1853, 153, tab. dxiv, figs. 3365,
3366.—NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 79.—BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 378; Review, 88.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363
(Xalapa).—IB. Catal. 1861, 15, no. 93.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 55.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue; head and upper part of neck greenish ashy-brown, its lower border passing a little below the eye, where it is darker; nape with an obscure whitish spot. Chin and throat whitish; rest of lower parts brownish-white; the sides and behind like the back, but paler. Middle tail-feather like the back; its basal half with a long white spot; its outer web edged with black at the base. Length about 4 inches; wing, 2.40.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States; south to Xalapa.

This species is closely related to _Sitta pusilla_ of the Southern States. The brown of the head has, however, an olivaceous-green tinge not seen in the other; the white spot on the nape less distinct. The middle tail-feather has its basal half white and the outer web edged with black at the base. This black edging is never seen in the other, and the white patch is reduced to a faint trace, only visible in very highly plumaged specimens.

HABITS. This diminutive species of Nuthatch is found throughout our Pacific coast and on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, from Washington Territory to Southern California. It is also to be found in New Mexico, and specimens have been procured from Mexico.

Dr. Kennerly found them quite abundant in the Sierra Madre and San Francisco Mountains, even as high up as the snow-line, seeking their insect food among the tops of the lofty pines. Dr. Newberry frequently met with these Nuthatches in the most wooded places on his route, where water was near and any considerable amount of animal life visible. He, however, never met with them in the forests of yellow pines. Dr. Gambel mentions their almost extraordinary abundance, in the winter months, in Upper California. Around Monterey, at times, the trees appeared almost alive with them, as they ran up and down and around the branches and trunks, uttering their monotonous and querulous cries. Their note he describes as a repeated whistling _wit-wit_. When one utters this cry, the rest join in. They also have a whistling trill while they are busily searching the tree in every part, and they never leave till they have pretty thoroughly searched every crack.

Dr. Cooper only met with this Nuthatch in the open pine-forests about Fort Colville, near the 49th parallel. They were associated in small flocks about the 20th of October, when there were heavy frosts at night. The chirping noise they made resembled the cries of young chickens. Their habits were very similar to those of the _Psaltriparus minimus_.

Mr. J. K. Lord found this Nuthatch an abundant bird along the entire length of the boundary line from the coast to the Rocky Mountains. It was also common on Vancouver Island. They were seen in large flocks in company with the Chickadees, except during the nesting-time, which is in June. A few were winter residents at Colville, but the greater number left in November. He describes it as a very active bird, always on the move. After nesting they congregate in large flocks and move about from tree to tree, twittering a low sweet note as if singing to themselves, now climbing back downwards along the under sides of the topmost branches of tall pines, searching into every crevice for insects, or, descending to the ground, clinging to the slender flower-stalks for other insects. They nest in June, make a hole in the dead branch of a pine, and deposit their eggs on the bare chips of the wood. This account does not agree with the experience of California ornithologists, who have found a loose nest within the excavation.

Mr. Ridgway found this Nuthatch abundant among the pines of the Sierra Nevada, in the vicinity of Carson City. They were found generally in pairs. Its note is said to greatly resemble the vociferous peeping of some of the small Sandpipers, being sharp, loud, and distinct, and vigorously and continuously uttered, whether climbing or flying. He found it exceedingly hard to discover this bird among the branches, or even when flying, owing to the swiftness and irregularity of its flight. When the female of a pair had been killed, the male bird was extremely loud in his lamentations. Diminutive as this bird is, Mr. Ridgway states that it is also the noisiest of all the feathered inhabitants of the pines, though it is less active in the pursuit of insects than the larger species.

Nests of this bird obtained near Monterey appear to be as well made as those of any of this genus, lining the cavity in which they are placed and conforming to it in size and shape, the materials sufficiently interwoven to permit removal and preservation, and warmly constructed of feathers, wool, vegetable down, hair, and the silky efflorescence of seeds.

Their eggs, seven in number, resemble those of the _S. canadensis_, but are of smaller size and a little more pointed at one end. Their ground-color is crystalline-white. This is covered more or less thickly with red spots, most numerous at the larger end. Their measure varies from .65 by .50 to .60 by .47 of an inch. The first eggs of this bird brought to the notice of naturalists were procured at Fort Crook on the Upper Sacramento of California, and not far from Mount Shasta, by Sergeant John Feilner, U. S. A., forming part of a very extensive collection of birds and eggs transmitted by him to the Smithsonian Institution. Promoted to a lieutenancy for gallant conduct, this gentleman finally attained the rank of captain of cavalry, and was killed by the Sioux during an exploring expedition into Dacotah under General Sully.

Sitta pusilla, LATH.

BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH.

_Sitta pusilla_, LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 263.—WILS. Am. Orn. II,
1810, 105, pl. XV.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, pl. cxxv.—IB. Birds
Am. IV, pl. ccxlix.—REICH. Handb. 1853, 153, tab. dxiv, figs.
3567, 3568.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 377; Review, 88.—SCLATER,
Catal. 1861, 15.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue; top of head and upper part of neck rather light hair-brown, divided on the nape by white. Eye involved in the brown, which is deeper on the lower border. Beneath muddy-whitish; sides and behind paler than the back. Middle tail-feathers almost entirely like the back. Length of female, 4 inches; wing, 2.50.

HAB. South Atlantic and Gulf States. Ohio! KIRTLAND.

HABITS. The Brown-headed Nuthatch has a much more restricted distribution than the other members of this family in this country. The specimens in the Smithsonian Museum are chiefly from Georgia. Wilson met with it in Virginia, and states that it is found in the other Southern States. I have received its eggs from Cheraw, S. C., and from Florida.

Wilson’s description of its habits makes them almost identical with those of _Sitta canadensis_, while its notes are more shrill and chirping. Like that bird, it is very fond of the seeds of the pines. Wherever found, it is a constant resident, and does not migrate.

Audubon states that this bird never goes farther north than Maryland, and that it is the most abundant in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. In Louisiana it is rare, and it is not found in Kentucky. Its notes, he states, are several octaves higher than those of the _carolinensis_, and more shrill, and at least an octave and a half higher than those of the _canadensis_.

Although apparently preferring pines and pine barrens, it by no means confines itself to them, but is not unfrequently seen on low trees and fences, mounting, descending, and turning in every direction, and with so much quickness of motion as to render it difficult to shoot it. It examines every hole and every crevice in the bark of trees, as well as their leaves and twigs, among which it finds abundance of food at all seasons. During the breeding-season they go about in pairs and are very noisy. Their only note is a monotonous cry, described as resembling _dĕnd, dĕnd_. Mr. Audubon further states that when the first brood leaves the nest, the young birds keep together, moving from tree to tree with all the activity of their parents, who join them when the second brood is able to keep them company. In Florida they pair in the beginning of February, having eggs as early as the middle of that month. In South Carolina they breed one month later. Their nest is usually excavated by the birds themselves in the dead portion of a low stump or sapling, sometimes only a few feet from the ground, but not unfrequently at the height of thirty or forty feet. Both birds are said to work in concert with great earnestness for several days, until the hole, which is round, and not larger at the entrance than the body of the bird, is dug ten or twelve inches deep, widening at the bottom. The eggs, according to Mr. Audubon, are laid on the bare wood. This, however, is probably not their constant habit. The eggs, from four to six in number, and not much larger than those of the Humming-Bird, have a white ground, thickly sprinkled with fine reddish-brown dots. They are said to raise two, and even three, broods in a season. According to the observations of the late Dr. Gerhardt of Northern Georgia, the Brown-headed Nuthatch breeds in that part of the country about the 19th of April.

The eggs of this Nuthatch are of a rounded oval shape, measuring .60 by .50 of an inch. Their white ground-color is so completely overlaid by a profusion of fine dottings of a dark purplish-brown as to be entirely concealed, and the egg appears almost as if a uniform chocolate or brown color.

FAMILY CERTHIADÆ.—THE CREEPERS.

CHAR. Primaries ten; first very short; less than half the second. Tail long, wedge-shaped, the feathers stiffened and acute. Bill slender, much compressed and curved. Outer lateral toe much longest; hind toe exceeding both the middle toe and the tarsus, which is scutellate anteriorly and very short. Entire basal joint of middle toe united to the lateral.

GENUS CERTHIA, LINN.

_Certhia_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. ed. 10th, 1758, 112. (Type, _C.
familiaris_.) (See REICHENBACH, Handbuch, I, II, 1853, 256, for a
monograph of the genus.)

[Line drawing: _Certhia americana._
827 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Plumage soft and loose. Bill as long as head, not notched, compressed; all its lateral outlines decurved. Nostrils not overhung by feathers, linear, with an incumbent thickened scale, as in _Troglodytes_. No rictal bristles, and the loral and frontal feathers smooth, without bristly shafts. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly, shorter than middle toe, which again is shorter than hind toe. All claws very long, much curved and compressed; outer lateral toe much the longer; basal joint of middle toe entirely adherent to adjacent ones. Wings rather pointed, about equal to the tail, the feathers of which are much pointed, with stiffened shafts. Primaries ten; first less than half the second. Nest in holes of trees; eggs white, sprinkled with reddish.

Of the _Certhiadæ_ but one genus belongs to America,—_Certhia_, with its one small species of considerable variability with locality. The characters above given include both family and generic characters, derived from this one genus. This is readily distinguished by the decurved, compressed bill; absence of notch and bristles; exposed linear nostrils with incumbent scales; connate middle toe, very long claws, short tarsi, pointed and stiffened tail-feathers, etc.

The American and European varieties (they can scarcely be called species) resemble each other very closely, though they appear to be distinguished by such differences as the following:—

The two European races, _C. familiaris_ and _C. costæ_, both differ from all the American varieties in having the crissum scarcely tinged with yellowish. _C. familiaris_ is more ashy beneath than any others, and _C. costæ_ is purest white beneath of all. Nearest _C. familiaris_, in the American series, as regards tints of the upper parts, are the Pacific coast specimens of _C. americana_,—while the latter are most like the Atlantic region specimens of the same. _C. mexicana_ is to be compared only with the North American forms, though it is the only one approaching _familiaris_ in the ashy lower parts.

_C. familiaris_ is at once separated from the rest by having the tail shorter than the wing.

_C. costæ_ is almost precisely like Eastern specimens of _C. americana_ in colors, but is absolutely pure white below, and without the distinctly yellowish crissum of the American bird. The bill and claws, however, are considerably longer than in Eastern _americana_, though their size is almost equalled by those of Western specimens; the colors are, however, more decidedly different.

There is never any deviation from the generic _pattern_ of coloration; but the variation, _among individuals of each form_, in length of the bill and claws, as well as the tail, is remarkable.

Certhia familiaris, var. americana, BONAP.

BROWN CREEPER.

_Certhia fusca_, BARTON, Fragments of the Natural History of
Pennsylvania, 1799, II. _Certhia familiaris_, VIEILL. Ois. Am.
Sept. II, 1807, 70 (not the European bird); also of WILSON and
AUDUBON.—MAYNARD, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 93. _Certhia americana_,
BONAP. Comp. List. 1838.—REICH. Handb. I, 1853, 265, pl. dcxv,
figs. 4102, 4103.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 372; Review,
89.—MAX. Cab. Jour. 1858, 105.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep.
XII, II, 1859, 192.—HAMLIN, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. 1864—66, 80.
_Certhia mexicana_, COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 58.

SP. CHAR. Bill about the length of the head. Above dark brown, with a slightly rufous shade, each feather streaked centrally, but not abruptly, with whitish; rump rusty. Beneath almost silky-white; the under tail-coverts with a faint rusty tinge. A white streak over the eye; the ear-coverts streaked with whitish. Tail-feathers brown centrally, the edges paler yellowish-brown. Wings with a transverse bar of pale reddish-white across both webs. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.90. (No. 827.)

_Young._ (5945, Steilacoom, W. T.; Dr. J. S. Cooper.) Resembling the adult, but streaks above indistinct, and the feathers there tipped indistinctly with blackish; the rufous restricted to the upper tail-coverts. Breast and jugulum with very minute blackish wavings or indistinct bars.

HAB. Whole of United States, to Red River Settlement.

Specimens from the far west are purer white beneath, much as in _costæ_, but those from the northwest coast have the white tinged with light rusty. Though purer white below, these specimens are much browner above than Eastern ones,—sometimes more so than in _familiaris_, but then there is the yellowish crissum never seen in this “species,” and the proportions are quite different. Thus it will be seen the _C. americana_ may always be distinguished from the other forms; when most resembling _costæ_ in the grayish tints of the upper plumage (as in Eastern examples), the lower parts are less purely white, and the bill and claws smaller; when like it in the proportions and pure white of the lower parts (as in Western specimens), the colors above are altogether more brown. The yellowish crissum of _americanus_ will also distinguish them. Though often resembling _familiaris_ in the colors of the upper parts, the latter may always be distinguished by its ashy lower parts without yellowish crissum, the shorter tail, with its less acute feathers, and stouter bill.

_C. mexicanus_ is still more different in colors, for which see that variety.

HABITS. Our common Creeper, so closely resembling the Creeper of Europe as by many to be supposed identical with it, is distributed over the whole of North America, from the Gulf of Mexico to high northern latitudes. At different seasons it may be found in every one of the several States and Territories, yet it is never very abundant. The Smithsonian possesses specimens from various parts of the country, from Georgia to Fort Steilacoom on the Pacific, but of these none appear to have been secured during the period of reproduction. Dr. Heermann found them very common in the more mountainous districts of California. Dr. Cooper found these birds abundant in the forests of Washington Territory, but difficult to detect from the similarity of their color to that of the bark over which they crept. They were apparently constant residents in that Territory. Dr. Suckley, who obtained several specimens of this species in the oak groves in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, states that in their habits the Western birds resemble those of the Atlantic States.

Mr. Ridgway found this Creeper inhabiting both the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada, where it was the more common, and also, in winter, among the willows of the river valleys. He did not meet with it east of the Truckee River, nor until he had reached the Wahsatch Mountains.

Dr. Woodhouse found the Brown Creeper generally distributed throughout the Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, and California, and adds that it was especially abundant in the San Francisco Mountains of New Mexico.

Dr. Cooper states that he has met with this form in the winter throughout the higher mountains and among the Coast Range as far south as Santa Cruz. He found them chiefly frequenting the coniferous trees, creeping up and down their trunks and branches, searching for insects in their crevices, and so nearly resembling the bark in their general color, that they can be detected only with great difficulty, except when in motion.

He adds that their notes are shrill and wiry, and are often heard when the bird is scarcely visible, without a careful search, their cry appearing to be from a greater distance than the real performer. In March, Dr. Cooper heard them giving out a faint but sharp-toned song, resembling that of a Wren. If Dr. Cooper is correct in his account of the notes, they do not correspond with those of our Eastern bird.

Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the birds observed by him near the 35th parallel, states that he found our common Creeper very abundant among the rough-barked cedars in the Aztec Mountains. It usually attracted notice, and its place of retreat was discovered, by his hearing its quick and sharp notes. A close and careful search generally enabled him to perceive it proceeding leisurely upward and downward, in straight or spiral lines, toward the top of the tree, dodging dexterously to the opposite side from the observer, and only resuming its occupation when assured of solitude and safety.

The observations of Dr. Kennerly, if they are to be received as characteristic of the Western Creepers, do not correspond with those of our Eastern birds, as far as we have observed them. None of our birds are more easily approached, and when they are pursuing their search for food, none are more regardless of observation. The statement that our Creeper, when watched, moves to the opposite side of the tree from the looker-on, has found a certain currency in our books. We are, however, of the opinion that this is owing to its restless activity, prompting it to constant changes of place and position, and not to its timidity or caution. We have uniformly found them either unconscious or regardless of our near presence.

They are solitary in their habits, and frequent, especially in the summer, deep woods, searching for their favorite food in high places where it is difficult to reach them, but this is no necessary evidence of their shyness. They often hunt for their food in very exposed places, with equal courage and recklessness. It is an active, restless bird, associating with Titmice and the smaller Woodpeckers, moving with great rapidity from side to side and from place to place. They breed in hollow trees, in the deserted holes of the Woodpeckers, and in the decayed stumps and branches of trees. Their nest is a loose aggregation of soft, warm materials, not interwoven, but simply collected with regard to no other requisite than warmth.

In the summer of 1851 our party, in their visit to one of the smaller Grand Menan Islands, was so fortunate as to meet with the nest of this bird. It was built in a decayed birch-tree, only a few feet from the ground, and contained five eggs nearly ready to hatch. This was on the 20th of June. The nest was an intermingling of decayed wood, the fur of small quadrupeds, and feathers, but with so little adherence or consistency of form that it was impossible to retain the materials in position after removal.

So far from evincing any timidity, the birds refused to leave their nest, and could hardly be prevented from following it when removed from the woods to a house on the island. One of our companions, returning to the woods in order to secure the birds for the sake of identification, found the pair still lingering round the place of their rifled nest. Upon his approach they began to circle round his head with reproachful cries, and continued to keep so close to him that it was impossible to shoot one without mutilating it. At length one of the birds alighted on a small branch held over his head by a lad who accompanied him, and in this position was secured by shooting it with a pistol loaded with the finest shot. Its mate could have been secured, as she persisted in pursuing them, but she was not molested. Throughout there was not a trace of timidity on the part of either bird, but the most reckless and daring devotion.

Besides the single call-note or the sharp outcry with which the Creepers signalize their movements, and which they utter from time to time as they rapidly and busily move up and down the trunks and limbs, or flit from tree to tree, they have been generally regarded as having no song. But this is not the fact. The careful observations of Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge have satisfied him that these birds have a very distinct and varied song. During the winter these birds are not uncommon in the vicinity of Boston, coming about the houses with all the tameness and confidence of the _Parus atricapillus_, and permit a very near approach. They are very easily attracted by suspending from a piazza a piece of fat meat. Mr. Brewster has observed them commence singing as early as the 14th of March. Their notes are varied and warbling and somewhat confused; some of them are loud, powerful, and surpassingly sweet, others are more feeble and plaintive; their song usually ends with their accustomed cry, which may be represented by _crēē-crēē-crē-ēp_. Mr. Brewster, besides repeatedly hearing them sing in Massachusetts in the early spring, has also listened to their song in Maine in the month of June.

Their eggs are small in proportion to the size of the bird, are nearly oval in shape, with a grayish-white ground, sparingly sprinkled with small, fine, red and reddish-brown spots. They measure .55 by .43 of an inch.

Certhia familiaris, var. mexicana, GLOG.

MEXICAN CREEPER.

_Certhia mexicana_, “GLOGER, Handbuch,” REICHENBACH, Handbuch, I,
1853, 265, pl. dlxii, figs. 3841, 3842.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856,
290; 1858, 297; 1859, 362, 372.—SALVIN, Ibis, 1866, 190 (Volcan
de Fuego, Guat.).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 373 (under _C.
americana_), pl. lxxxiii, fig. 2; Review, 90.

SP. CHAR. Ground-color above very dark sepia-brown, each feather with a sharply defined medial streak of grayish-white, these streaks becoming broader posteriorly, where they are discontinued at the beginning of the rump. Whole rump and upper tail-coverts chestnut-rufous. Beneath pale ashy, becoming almost white on the throat; crissal feathers deep ochraceous except at the tips, which are whitish. Markings of the wings as usual. Measurements (8176, Mexico): wing, 2.50; tail, 2.70; bill (from nostril), .48; hind claw, .30.

HAB. Guatemala and Mexico; probably extending along the table-lands into the United States.

This is one of the best marked of the various races that have been discussed (see p. 124). The ground-color of the upper parts is altogether darker than in any of the others, and the streaks are more sharply defined and narrower; the rufous of the rump is of a castaneous, instead of yellowish cast; the wings appear more uniform with the back, owing to the dark color of the latter, and their pale markings have little of that yellowish tinge so noticeable in the others. In the ashy tinge of the lower parts there is a resemblance to _familiaris_ of Europe; but the latter has not the ochraceous crissum so noticeable in the present bird. There is little resemblance to Western and Rocky Mountain specimens of the _C. americana_ and if these are to be considered as separable from the Eastern (which, however, would not, in our opinion, be advisable) they must not be referred to _mexicana_.

The Mexican Creeper is introduced here on account of the probability of its occurrence in the Southern Rocky Mountains.

HABITS. Mr. Salvin found the Mexican Tree-Creeper by no means uncommon in the pine forests of the upper zone of the Volcan de Fuego. He also observed it frequenting pine-trees in the district of Chilasco, Vera Paz, at about 6,000 feet above the sea.

FAMILY TROGLODYTIDÆ.—THE WRENS.

CHAR. Rictal bristles wanting; the loral feathers with bristly points; the frontal feathers generally not reaching to nostrils. Nostrils varied, exposed or not covered by feathers, and generally overhung by a scale-like membrane. Bill usually without notch (except in some Middle American genera). Wings much rounded, about equal to tail, which is graduated. Primaries ten, the first generally about half the second. Basal joint of middle toe usually united to half the basal joint of inner, and the whole of that of the outer, or more. Lateral toes about equal, or the outer a little the longer. Tarsi scutellate.

The impossibility of defining any large group of animals, so as to separate it stringently and abruptly from all others, is well understood among naturalists; and the _Troglodytidæ_ form no exception to the rule. Some bear so close a resemblance to the Mocking Thrushes as to have been combined with them; while others again exhibit a close approximation to other subfamilies. The general affinities of the family, however, appear to be to the _Turdidæ_, and one of the best characters for separating the two families appears to exist in the structure of the feet.

In the _Turdidæ_ the basal joint of the outer lateral toe is united to the middle toe, sometimes only a part of it; and the inner toe is cleft almost to its very base, so as to be opposable to the hind toe, separate from the others. In the _Troglodytidæ_, on the contrary, the inner toe is united by half its basal joint to the middle toe, sometimes by the whole of this joint; and the second joint of the outer toe enters wholly or partially into this union, instead of the basal joint only. In addition to this character, the open, exposed nostrils, the usually lengthened bill, the generally equal lateral toes, the short rounded wings, the graduated tail, etc., furnish points of distinction.

Genera.

A. Lateral toes very unequal.

_a._ Culmen depressed basally, the interval between the
nostrils wider than the much compressed anterior half of the
bill. Plate on the posterior half of the tarsus continuous.
Catherpes.

_b._ Culmen compressed basally, the interval between the
nostrils narrower than the rather depressed anterior half of
the bill. Plate on the posterior half of the tarsus broken into
smaller scales. Salpinctes.

B. Lateral toes equal.

_c._ Length about 8 inches. Campylorhynchus.

_d._ Length less than 6 inches.

Bill abruptly decurved or hooked at the tip. Outstretched
feet not reaching near to end of tail. Thryothorus.

Tail longer than the wing, the feathers black, variegated
terminally with whitish … Subgenus _Thryomanes_.

Tail shorter than the wing, the feathers rusty, not
variegated with whitish … Subgenus _Thryothorus_.

Bill only gently curved at the tip. Outstretched feet
reaching nearly to or beyond the end of the tail.

Back without streaks. No distinct superciliary stripe.
Troglodytes.

Bill curved, sub-conical. Tail as long as wing.…
Subgenus _Troglodytes_.

Bill straight, subulate. Tail much shorter than wing.…
Subgenus _Anorthura_.

Back streaked with black and white. Cistothorus.

Bill short, stout; its depth equal to one half its length
from the nostril; gonys straight or even convex, ascending.
Crown streaked; no distinct superciliary stripe.…
Subgenus _Cistothorus_.

Bill elongated, slender; its depth less than one third its
length from the nostril; gonys slightly concave, declining.
Crown not streaked; a conspicuous superciliary stripe.…
Subgenus _Telmatodytes_.

GENUS CAMPYLORHYNCHUS, SPIX.

_Campylorhynchus_, SPIX, Av. Bras. I, 1824, 77. (Type, _C.
scolopaceus_, SPIX = _Turdus variegatus_, GMEL.)

[Line drawing: _Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus._
7149]

GEN. CHAR. Bill stout, compressed, as long as, or longer than the head, without notch or rictal bristles; culmen and commissure curved; gonys nearly straight. Nostrils in the antero-inferior part of nasal groove, in advance of the frontal feathers, with an overhanging scale with thickened edge, as in _Thryothorus_; sometimes, as in the type, reduced to a slight ridge along the upper side of the nasal groove. Lateral septum not projecting below or anteriorly into the nasal cavity, but concealed by the nasal scale. Tarsus a little longer than middle toe and claw; claws strong, much curved, and very sharp; middle toe with basal joint adherent almost throughout. Wings and tail about equal, the latter graduated; the exterior webs of lateral feathers broad.

This genus embraces the largest species of the family, and is well represented in Middle and South America, two species only reaching into North America, which may be distinguished as follows:—

Top of head and post-ocular stripe reddish-brown; back streaked longitudinally and linearly with white. All the feathers beneath conspicuously spotted. Crissum and flanks with rounded or elongated spots. Iris reddish. Nostrils inferior, linear, overhung by a scale. Nests large and purse-shaped; eggs white, profusely marked with salmon-colored or reddish spots.

_a._ Spots much larger on throat and jugulum than elsewhere.
Inner webs of second to fifth tail-feathers (between middle
and outer feathers) black, except at tips. Length, 8.00; wing,
3.40; tail, 3.55. _Hab._ Adjacent borders of United States
and Mexico … _brunneicapillus._

_b._ Spots on throat and jugulum little larger than elsewhere.
Inner webs of intermediate tail-feathers banded with white like
the outer. Length, 7.50. _Hab._ Cape St. Lucas … _affinis._

Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, GRAY.

CACTUS WREN.

_Picolaptes brunneicapillus_, LAFRESNAYE, Mag. de Zool. 1835, 61,
pl. xlvii.—LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 114.—CASSIN, Birds
Cal. Tex. 1854, 156, pl. xxv.—HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. II, 1853,
263. _C. brunneicapillus_, GRAY, Genera, I, 1847, 159.—BP. Consp.
1850, 223.—SCL. P. A. N. S. 156, 264.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
355; Pr. Phil. Acad. 1859, 3, etc.; Rev. 99.—HEERMANN, P. R. R.
X, 1859.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 482 (Texas).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 61.

SP. CHAR. Bill as long as the head. Above brown; darkest on the head, which is unspotted. Feathers on the back streaked centrally with white. Beneath whitish, tinged with rusty on the belly; the feathers of the throat and upper parts, and under tail-coverts, with large rounded black spots; those of the remaining under parts with smaller, more linear ones. Chin and line over the eye white. Tail-feathers black beneath, barred subterminally (the outer one throughout) with white. Iris, reddish-yellow. Length, 8 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.55.

HAB. Adjacent borders of the United States and Mexico, from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Valley of the Colorado, and to the Pacific coast of Southern California. Replaced at Cape St. Lucas by _C. affinis_.

This species is found abundantly along the line of the Rio Grande and Gila, extending northward some distance, and everywhere conspicuous by its wren-like habits and enormous nest.

HABITS. The Brown-headed Creeper is a comparatively recent addition to the fauna of the United States, but appears to be common along the southwestern borders of the United States, from the valley of the Rio Grande to San Diego, in California. In Lower California it is replaced by the _C. affinis_.

It was first added to our avifauna by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, on the strength of a specimen obtained in Texas by Captain McCown.

Dr. Heermann, in his paper on the Birds of California, speaks of finding it in the arid country back of Guymas, on the Gulf of California. This country, presenting only broken surfaces and a confused mass of volcanic rocks, covered by a scanty vegetation of thorny bushes and cacti, among other interesting birds, was found to contain this species in abundance. He describes it as a lively, sprightly species, uttering, at intervals, clear, loud, ringing notes. Its nest, composed of grasses and lined with feathers, was in the shape of a long purse, enormous for the size of the bird, and laid flat between the forks or on the branches of a cactus. The entrance was a covered passage, varying from six to ten inches in length. The eggs, six in number, he described as being of a delicate salmon-color, very pale, and often so thickly speckled with ash and darker salmon-colored spots as to give quite a rich cast to the whole surface of the egg.

Lieutenant Couch met with these birds near Monterey. He states that they have a rich, powerful song. Of the nest he gives substantially the same description as that furnished by Dr. Heermann.

The eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, slightly more pointed at one end, and are so equally and generally covered, over a white ground, with fine salmon-colored spots, as to present a uniform and almost homogeneous appearance. They vary in length from an inch to 1.02 inches, and have an average breadth of .68 of an inch.

Campylorhynchus affinis, XANTUS.

THE CAPE CACTUS WREN.

_Campylorhynchus affinis_, XANTUS, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 298 (Cape St.
Lucas).—BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 303; Rev. 100.—SCL. Catal.
1861, 17, no. 108.—ELLIOT, Illust. B. N. A. I, IV.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. 1, 1870, 62.

SP. CHAR. Cap of head reddish-brown; the concealed centres of feathers dusky. Rest of upper parts grayish-brown, all the feathers of body and scapulars with broad central or shaft streaks of whitish edged with black; the streaks irregular in outline, on some feathers nearly linear, in others widening at intervals along the shaft. Outer webs of the wing-feathers crossed by about seven rows of whitish semicircular spots, with corresponding series of more circular ones on the inner web. Tail-feathers black, all of them with a series of about eight quadrate white spots on each web, which are alternate to each other, not opposite, and extend from or near the black shaft to the edge; the extreme tips of the feathers black; the two central feathers, however, more like the back, with irregular mottling of grayish and black. Upper tail-coverts barred transversely with black.

Under parts white, faintly tinged with rusty posteriorly; each feather spotted with black, excepting on the immaculate chin. These spots are rather larger and more quadrate on the jugulum, where they are sometimes on the sides of the feathers (on one or both sides); posteriorly, however, they are elongated or tear-shaped, and strung along the shaft, one or two on each. On the crissum they are large and much rounded, three or four on each longer feather. Legs rather dusky. Bill lead-color, pale at the base below; iris reddish-brown. A broad white stripe from bill over the eye and nape; edged above and below with black; line behind the eye like the crown; cheek-feathers white, edged with blackish.

Immature specimens exhibit a tendency to a whitish spotting in the ends of the feathers of the cap. A very young bird does not, however, differ materially, except in having the spots less distinct beneath, the white streaks less conspicuous above, the white of the wings soiled with rufous. Specimens vary considerably in the proportional as well as absolute thickness and length of the bill; thus, No. 32,167 measures .80 from nostril to end of bill, instead of .60, as given below for No. 12,965.

12,965. Total length, 7.50; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.40; its graduation, .45; exposed portion of first primary, 1.42, of second, 2.15, of longest, or fourth (measured from exposed base of first primary), 2.45; length of bill from forehead, .90, from nostril, .60; along gape, 1.07; tarsus, 1.02; middle toe and claw, .90; claw alone, .25; hind toe and claw, .76; claw alone, .35.

HAB. Only observed at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California.

This species is most nearly allied to _C. brunneicapillus_; the most apparent difference at first sight being in the greater concentration of black on the throat and jugulum in _brunneicapillus_, and the much smaller size of the remaining spots on the under parts, with the decided light-cinnamon of the posterior portion of the body. The outer and central tail-feathers alone are marked as in _C. affinis_, the intermediate ones being entirely black, with the exception of a white subterminal band.

This is one of the most characteristic birds constituting the isolated fauna of Cape St. Lucas. Like nearly all the species peculiar to this remarkable locality, it is exceedingly abundant, breeding in immense numbers. It has not yet been detected elsewhere, though it may possibly be found on the Lower Colorado.

HABITS. This recently described species was first discovered by Mr. Xantus, and has, so far as is known, a somewhat restricted locality, having been met with only at the southern extremity of Lower California, where it is an exceedingly abundant bird. Mr. Xantus has published no observations in regard to its habits, which, however, are probably very nearly identical with those of the more common species. From the brief memoranda given by him in the general register of his collections, made at Cape St. Lucas, we gather that their nests were built almost exclusively in opuntias, cacti, and the prickly pear, and were generally only four or five feet from the ground, but occasionally at the height of ten feet.

The nests are large purse-shaped collections of twigs and coarse grasses, very similar to, and hardly distinguishable in any respect from, those of the more northern species. The eggs vary from 1.05 to 1 inch in length, and from .65 to .70 of an inch in breadth, and have a reddish-white ground very uniformly dotted with fine markings of reddish-brown, purple, and slate.

SUBGENUS SALPINCTES, CABANIS.

_Salpinctes_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 323. (Type,
_Troglodytes obsoletus_, SAY.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill as long as the head; all the outlines nearly straight to the tip, then decurved; nostrils oval. Feet weak; tarsi decidedly longer than the middle toe; outer lateral toe much longer, reaching to the base of the middle claw, and equal to the hinder. Wings about one fifth longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary about half that of the second, and two fifths that of the fourth and fifth. Tail-feathers very broad, plane, nearly even or slightly rounded; the lateral moderately graduated.

Of this genus but one species is so far known in the United States, the Rock Wren of the earlier ornithologists. It is peculiar among its cognate genera by having the two continuous plates on each side the tarsus divided into seven or more smaller plates, with a naked interval between them and the anterior scutellæ. Other characters will be found detailed in the Review of American Birds, p. 109.

Salpinctes obsoletus, CABAN.

ROCK WREN.

_Troglodytes obsoletus_, SAY, Long’s Exped. II, 1823, 4 (south fork
of Platte).—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, pl. ccclx.—IB. B. A. II, pl.
cxvi.—NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 80.—HEERMANN, P. R.
R. Rep. X, 1859, 41. _Salpinctes obsoletus_, CAB. Wiegmann’s
Archiv, 1847, I, 323.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357; Rev.
110.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 371 (Oaxaca).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 64. _? Troglodytes latisfasciatus_, LICHT. Preis-Verzeich.
1831, no. 82.

[Line drawing: _Salpinctes obsoletus._
7157 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Plumage very soft and lax. Bill about as long as the head. Upper parts brownish-gray, each feather with a central line and (except on the head) transverse bars of dusky, and a small dull brownish-white spot at the end (seen also on the tips of the secondaries). Rump, sides of the body, and posterior part of belly and under tail-coverts dull cinnamon, darker above. Rest of under parts dirty white; feathers of throat and breast with dusky central streaks. Lower tail-coverts banded broadly with black. Inner tail-feathers like the back, the others with a broad black bar near the end; the tips cinnamon; the outer on each side alternately banded with this color and black. A dull white line above and behind the eye. Iris brown. Length, 5.70; wing, 2.82; tail, 2.40. Young not marked or banded beneath. Eggs white, spotted with red.

HAB. Central regions of the United States, to Mexico, east to mouth of Yellowstone River. Cape St. Lucas. Not recorded from Pacific slope. W. Arizona, Coues. Oaxaca, SCLATER.

HABITS. The Rock Wren, so far as its distribution is known, is principally restricted to the high central plains of the Rocky Mountains, from Nebraska to the coast ranges near the Pacific, and from Oregon to Mexico and Lower California. According to Dr. Cooper it is an abundant species throughout the dry, rocky, and barren districts of California, especially in the southern portions, where it comes nearer the coast. They are numerous among the plains on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. Their favorite places are among the rocks, where they are always busily engaged in hunting for insects in the crevices. Dr. Cooper found nests at San Diego in cavities under the tiled roofs of houses, but they all contained young as early as May. At Fort Mojave they began to sing in February, and their song continued throughout the spring. They range to a high elevation among the mountains, having been found by Dr. Newberry at Klamath Lake in Oregon. Dr. Cooper does not describe their song, but Dr. Heermann speaks of it as only a very weak trill. The latter met with them in the mountainous districts of California, where they were searching for their food among the crevices of the rocks. He afterwards met with them in New Mexico and Texas. They were quite abundant in the Tejon Valley, passing in and out, among and under the boulders profusely scattered over the mountains, searching for spiders, worms, and small insects, in pursuit of which they uttered at intervals a loud and quick note of a peculiarly thrilling character. Lieutenant Couch found them in the sandstone ranges near Patos, in the province of Coahuila. Some of their habits are spoken of as sparrow-like, and, while they have the usual wren-like grating noises, they also possess a song of great variety and sweetness.

Dr. Kennerly met with them among the bushes in the vicinity of the Rio Grande. Their flight he describes as short, the bird generally soon alighting on the ground and running off very rapidly.

This Wren was first discovered by Mr. Say near the Arkansas River, inhabiting a sterile district devoid of trees, hopping along the ground or flitting through the low, stunted junipers on the banks of the river, usually in small flocks of five or six. Nuttall afterwards found them in July on the Western Colorado. The note of the female was _charr-charr-te-aigh_, with a strong guttural accent, and with a shrill call similar to the note of the Carolina Wren. The old birds were feeding a brood of five young, which, though full grown, were cherished with querulous assiduity. He found them nesting among the rocky ledges, in the crevices of which they hide themselves when disturbed. Mr. Nuttall also met with this species near Fort Vancouver. Mr. Salvin states that in several instances it has been met with in Guatemala.

The eggs of this Wren obtained by Dr. Palmer in Arizona have a clear white ground, sparingly spotted with well-defined, distinct dottings of brownish-red. These are chiefly distributed around the larger end. They vary somewhat in size and shape, some being of a more rounded form, though all have one end more pointed than the other. The length is pretty uniform, .77 of an inch. The breadth varies from .60 to .66 of an inch. They are larger and more oblong than the eggs of any other Wren, except perhaps the _mexicanus_, and bear little resemblance to any other eggs of this family with which I am acquainted, except those of the Winter Wren, and the egg attributed to _T. americanus_.

The nest is homogeneous in structure, composed entirely of thin strips of reddish-colored bark and fine roots, interspersed with a few small bits of wool. It is distorted by packing, so that measurements of it would be valueless; its dimensions in its pressed condition are: diameter, 5 inches; depth, 2 inches. The cavity is shallow and saucer-shaped.

From Mr. Ridgway we learn that from the summit of the Sierra Nevada eastward, as far as the party explored, he found this Wren universally distributed. In the middle provinces of the Rocky Mountains it was the most abundant species of the family, but was not so abundant in the Wahsatch Mountains. The general resort of this species was among rocky or stony hill-slopes, though it was not confined to such localities. At Carson City he found it particularly partial to the rubbish of the decaying pine-logs. At Virginia City it was the only Wren seen frequenting the old buildings and abandoned mining-shafts, in its predilection for such places reminding him very much of the _Thryothorus ludovicianus_, which in its manners it very strongly resembles.

Mr. Ridgway noticed a wonderful variety in the notes of this Wren. Its peculiarly guttural _turee_ was repeatedly heard, and its song in spring had a slight resemblance in modulation to that of the Carolina Wren, though altogether lacking the power and richness so characteristic of the superb song of that bird. Frequently its song was changed into a prolonged monotonous trill, similar to the tremulous spring-call of the _Junco hyemalis_.

This species is not so wary as the _Catherpes mexicanus_. Upon suddenly starting up an individual of this kind, he would fly to the nearest boulder, turn with his breast towards the party, swing oddly from side to side, all the while ludicrously bowing and scolding the intruder with his peculiar sharp expressions of displeasure.

Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the Fauna of the Territory of Montana, states that he observed this bird occasionally through the main Rocky Mountain chain to near the crossing of the Bitterroot, but it was less common than among the cliffs and rocks of the barren plain along their eastern slope. Though he did not find it in the western part of Washington Territory, he has no doubt that it frequents parts of the rocky cañons of the Columbia Plain. A nest with nine eggs was found in a log-cabin below Fort Benton.

GENUS CATHERPES, BAIRD.

_Catherpes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357. (Type, _Thryothorus
mexicanus_, SW.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill longer than the head, slender; all the outlines nearly straight to the tip, then gently decurved, gonys least so; nostrils linear; tarsus short, about equal to the middle toe, which reaches to the middle of the middle claw. Outer toe considerably longer than the inner, reaching beyond the base of the middle claw. Wings a little longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary about half that of the fourth and fifth. Tail-feathers very broad and perfectly plane; tail nearly even; the two lateral graduated; the outer about eleven twelfths of the middle.

[Line drawing: _Catherpes mexicanus._
3969 ♂]

This genus agrees with _Salpinctes_ in the broad, plane tail-feathers, but the bill is much longer, the nostrils linear, not oval, the feet much stouter, the outer toe rather longer; the tarsus shorter, being equal to the middle toe, not longer; the hind toe much longer than the outer lateral, instead of equal to it. The wings are but little longer than the tail, and shorter than in _Salpinctes_.

This genus is confined to the western portions, where a single species, _C. mexicanus_, occurs in two well-marked varieties:—

C. mexicanus.

Culmen almost straight, the tip decurved, gonys straight. Above
blackish-brown; wings and back sparsely sprinkled with minute
white specks; _no such markings on head or neck_. Bars on tail
very broad, .12 in width on outer feathers. Wing, 2.84; tail,
2.40; culmen, .96; tarsus, .75; middle toe, .68; posterior,
.47; outer, .52; inner, .49 (52,791, Mazatlan, Mexico). _Hab._
Mexico … var. _mexicanus_.

Culmen and gonys both gently curved, the latter somewhat
concave. Above cinnamon-ashy, more reddish on rump and wings;
head and neck above with numerous dots of white; very few of
these on back and wings. Tail-bars very narrow and thread-like.
Wing, 2.48; tail, 2.12; culmen, .83; tarsus, .56; middle toe,
.52; posterior, .35; outer, .44; inner, .36 (53,425 ♂, Fort
Churchill, Nevada). _Hab._ Middle (and Pacific?) Province of
United States … var. _conspersus_.

In var. _mexicanus_ the white of throat is more abruptly defined against the rufous of abdomen than in var. _conspersus_, in which the transition is very gradual. The latter has the secondaries rufous with narrow isolated bars of black; the former has them blackish, _indented_ on lower webs with dark rufous. In _mexicanus_ the feet are very stout, and dark brown; in _conspersus_ they are much weaker, and deep black.

All specimens from south of the United States (including Giraud’s type of _Certhia albifrons_) belong to the restricted _mexicanus_, while all from the United States are of the var. _conspersus_.

Catherpes mexicanus, var. conspersus, RIDGWAY.

CAÑON WREN; WHITE-THROATED ROCK WREN.

_Troglodytes mexicanus_, HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. 2d ser. II, 1853,
63.—IB. P. R. R. Rep. X, 1859, 41.—CASSIN, Illust. Birds Cal. I,
1854, 173, pl. xxx. _Catherpes mexicanus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 356 (in part); Rev. III (in part).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 66. _Catherpes mexicanus_ var. _conspersus_, RIDGWAY.

SP. CHAR. (No. 53,425 ♂, near Fort Churchill, Nevada, December 7, 1867; R. RIDGWAY). Above, brownish-ashy on the anterior, and bright cinnamon-rufous on the posterior half, the two colors shading insensibly together. The anterior, or grayish portion thickly sprinkled with numerous small circular dots of white, each preceded by a smaller speck of dusky; a few of these dots on the rump. Wings with obsolete, ragged, narrow, _isolated_ bars of dusky, these most sharply defined on the secondaries. Tail clear rufous, crossed with about nine very narrow, thread-like, somewhat zigzag bars of black,—these about .02 wide on the middle, and .07 on the outer feather. Beneath, anterior third, pure silky-white, shading insensibly into soft ochraceous on the breast, this soon darkening into deep ferruginous, the color of all the posterior lower parts; the whole of this ferruginous surface, with very obsolete transverse spots of white, each preceded by a narrower dusky one. Length, 5.75; extent of wings, 7.50 (fresh); wing, 2.48; tail, 2.13; culmen, .83; tarsus, .56. Bill deep slate, paler, and with lilaceous tinge, at base of lower mandible; iris umber; tarsi and toes black (fresh colors).

HAB. Central region of North America, from boundary of United States northward. Extends up Valley of Colorado. Western Nevada, resident; RIDGWAY.

The above characters apply to all specimens of _Catherpes_ from north of Mexico, as substantiated by a sufficient series in the collection. It is a remarkable fact that this northern race should be so much smaller than the Mexican one, especially in view of the fact that it is a resident bird in even the most northern parts of its ascertained habitat.

HABITS. The geographical distribution of this race of the White-throated Wren, so far as known, is confined to the line of the United States and Mexican boundary, extending northward up the Valley of the Colorado, as far as Western Nevada. The corresponding Mexican race reaches some distance southward, but has not yet been detected beyond the limits of Mexico. The habits of both races, however, are quite similar, as far as known.

Dr. Heermann first met with this Wren in the spring of 1851, on the Cosumnes River. In the following year he procured three specimens on the Calaveras River. He describes it as an active, sprightly bird, having a loud and pleasing song that may be heard a great distance, and which it repeats at short intervals. When found, it was occupied with searching for insects, between and under the large boulders of rock that, in some portions of the river, are thrown together in confused masses, as if by some terrific convulsion of nature.