380 TIlllASllERS, WRI‘INS, ETC. 
     
    

    
     out involuntarily exelaiming, " What a magnitieent performance!” 
     
     Nevertheless, there is a certain consciousness and lack of spontaneity 
     
     about it which makes it appeal to the mind rather than to the 
     
     heart. 
     
    

    
     718. Thryothorus ludovicianus t Lat/1.). Canomxa Win-m. (See 
     
     Fig. :35, c.) .ltlfi L'pper parts rutous-hrow n; feathers of the rump with con— 
     
     ecaled downy white spots; a long, eonspieuous whitish line over the eye; 
     
     wings and tail rutous—lu'own, finely barred with black; under parts ochra- 
     
     eeous—butf or eream~bull', whiter on the throat; flanks sometimes with a few 
     
     blackish bars. Li, 5'50; \V., 2'30; Ti, 2'0“; I'L, ‘UO. 
     
    

    
     Il'tlllflc.#l‘4ll>’tcl‘ll L'nited States; breeds from the Gulf States to southern 
     
     Iowa, northern Illinois, and southern Connecticut; resident, exeept at, the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     northern limit of its range. 
     
    

    
     Washington, common I’. R. 
     
    

    
     I J, bulky, of grasses, feathers, leaves, ete., lined with liner grasses, long 
     
     hairs, ete., in holes in trees or stumps, nooks and crevices about buildings, 
     
     etc. [Li/gs, tour to six, white or creamy white, with numerous einnamon—, 
     
     rut'ons—brown, and lavender markings, sometimes wreathetl about the larger 
     
     and, ‘75 x ‘53. 
     
    

    
     The cozy nooks and corners about the home of man which prove 
     
     so attractive to the llouse Wren have no charms for this bird. His 
     
     wild nature demands the freedom of the fr. rests, and he shows no dis- 
     
     position 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 disap- 
     
     pear. like a feathered Jaek—in-the—box. are the resorts he chooses. 
     
    

    
     The nervous activity so eha ‘aeteristie 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 stamp before us, bob— 
     
     bing up and down and gestieulating wildly with his expressive 
     
     tail; but as a rule he is seldom in sight more than a second at a 
     
     time. 
     
    

    
     Of eourse. so ext-itable a nature must, find other than physical out- 
     
     let for his irrepressible energy, and he accompanies his movements by 
     
     more or less amn'opriate notes: scoldingr rue/rs. elinking, metallic rat— 
     
     tles. musieal trills, tree—tomllike Irrrrz'nys—in faet. he possesses an 
     
     almost endless voealmlar)’. Ile is sometimes called Mocking Wren, 
     
     but the hundreds of birds I have h lard \vcr‘ all too original to borrow 
     
     from others. In addition to his peculiar calls he I'lossesses a 'ariety of 
     
     loud. ringing whistles. somewhat similar in tone to those of the Tufted 
     
     'l'itmouse or (‘ardinah and fully as loud as if not louder than the notes 
     
     of the latter. The more eommon ones resemble. the syllables wlzee-udel, 
     
     teller-tale], whee-tub], and lca-lre/ilt', Int-kettle, tea—kettle.