_Nannus hiemalis hiemalis. Case 2, Fig. 58_
Smaller than the House Wren; underparts brownish,
flanks and belly finely barred. L. 4.
_Range._ Nests from northern New England and
Central Michigan north to Canada and, in the
Alleghanies, south to North Carolina; winters from
the Northern States to the Gulf.
Washington, rather common W.V., Aug. 10-May 1.
Ossining, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 18-Apl. 27.
Cambridge, T.V. uncommon, Sept. 20-Nov. 25; rare,
Apl. 10-25; a very few winter. N. Ohio, tolerably
common. W.V., Sept. 14-May 17. Glen Ellyn, fairly
common T.V., Apl. 1-May 10; Sept. 9-Nov. 7. SE.
Minn., common T.V., rare W.V., Sept. 22-Apl. 3.
The Winter Wren comes to us from the North when the House Wren leaves
for the South and remains with us until the House Wren returns in the
spring. But one by no means takes the place of the other. The Winter
Wren is a wood Wren that lives in fallen tree-tops, old brush-piles or
similar retreats, and his nervous _chimp, chimp_, as with cocked-up tail
he hops into view for a second, is like the call of the Song Sparrow
rather than the scolding note of most Wrens; nor does his rippling,
trickling song resemble the House Wren's sudden outburst.
The nest is built in the roots of a tree or similar location. The 5-7
eggs, laid in early June, are white, finely, but rather sparingly
speckled with brownish.