Troglodytes spilurus, Vigors, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 18, pl. iv, fig. 1 (California). Thryothorus spilurus, Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 69. Troglodytes bewickii, Newberry, P. R. R. Rept. VI, IV, 1857, 80.—Cooper & Suckley, Ib. XII, II, 1860, 190. Thryothorus bewickii, Sclater, Catal. 1861, 22, No. 141.(in part). Thryothorus bewickii, var. spilurus, Baird, Rev. 126.
Sp. Char. Similar to bewickii in color, the bill considerably longer. Length from nostril, .50, gape, .81, instead of .39 and .70.
Hab. Pacific slope of United States.
Young birds from all the localities differ from adults merely in having the feathers of the throat and breast very narrowly and inconspicuously edged with blackish.
Habits. This variety of Bewick’s Wren is exclusively an inhabitant of the Western coast. According to Dr. Cooper, they abound throughout the wooded parts of California and northward, frequenting the densest forests as well as the open groves. During the winter they were found in the vicinity of Fort Mojave, but left in April, probably for the mountains. They also winter throughout the mild regions towards the coast as far north as Puget Sound. They are known as Mocking-Wrens, though Dr. Cooper thinks they do not really imitate other birds, but rather have a great variety of their own notes, some of which resemble those of other birds and are well calculated to deceive one unaccustomed to them. He was often led to search in vain for some new form, which he thought he heard singing, only to find it to be
a bird of this species. Near San Diego, in April, 1862, he discovered one of its nests built in a low bush, only three feet from the ground. It was quite open above, formed of twigs, grass, etc., and contained five eggs just ready to hatch, described as white with brown specks near the larger end.
Messrs. Nuttall and Townsend observed these birds in the marshy meadows of the Wahlamet, accompanied by their young, as early as May. They seemed to have all the habits of Marsh Wrens. Drs. Gambel and Heermann, who observed them in California, describe them as keeping in low bushes and piles of brush, as well as about old dead trees and logs, over and around which they were flitting with the greatest activity, uttering, when approached, the usual grating scold of the Wrens.
In Washington Territory Dr. Cooper states that this and the Winter Wren are among the few birds that enliven the long rainy season with their songs, which were as constantly heard in the dullest weather as in the sunny spring. The young broods make their first appearance there in June. Dr. Suckley found this species very abundant at Puget Sound, where it is a constant resident throughout the year. On sunny days in January and in February it was found among low thickets in company with the smaller species. At this season they were very tame, allowing a person to approach them without apparent fear. He speaks of the voice of the male as being harsh and loud during the breeding-season, and not unlike that of the common House Wren.
Genus TROGLODYTES, Vieill.
Troglodytes, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52. (Type, Troglodytes ædon.)