Part 19

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.