_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.
[Illustration: _Salpinctes obsoletus._]
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.