_Troglodytes parkmanni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 310.—IB. Synopsis,
1839, 76.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 133, pl. cxxii.—BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 367; Rev. 140.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII,
II, 1860, 191 (nest).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 23, no. 146.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 71. _Troglodytes sylvestris_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N.
Sc. III, 1846, 113 (California, quotes erroneously AUD. _T.
americanus_).
HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States. East to the
Missouri River. Western Arizona, COUES.
Although the differences between the eastern and western House Wrens,
as stated in the Birds of North America, are not very appreciable, yet
a comparison of an extensive series shows that they can hardly be
considered as identical. The general color of _parkmanni_ above is
paler and grayer, and there is little or none of the rufous of the
lower back and rump. The bars on the upper surface are rather more
distinct. The under parts are more alike, as, while ædon sometimes has
flanks and crissum strongly tinged with rufous, other specimens are as
pale as in _T. parkmanni_.
Perhaps the most appreciable differences between the two are to be
found in the size and proportions of wing and tail. The wing in
_parkmanni_ is quite decidedly longer than in _ædon_, measuring, in
males, 2.12 to 2.15, instead of 2.00 to 2.05. This is due not so much
to a larger size as to a greater development of the primaries. The
first quill is equal to or barely more than half the second in
_parkmanni_; and the difference between the longest primary and the
tenth amounts to .32 of an inch, instead of about .20 in _ædon_, where
the first quill is nearly half the length of the third, and much more
than half the length of the second.
HABITS. This western form, hardly distinguishable from the common
House Wren of the Eastern States, if recognized as a distinct species,
is its complete analogue in regard to habits, nest, eggs, etc. It was
first obtained by Townsend on the Columbia River, and described by
Audubon in 1839. It has since been observed in various parts of the
country, from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Coast, and from
Cape St. Lucas to Oregon.
Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of Washington Territory, speaks of this Wren
as common about Puget Sound, where it appeared to be much less
familiar than our common Wren, though its habits and song seemed to be
very similar. It there frequented chiefly the vicinity of woods and
piles of logs, neither seeking nor dwelling in the vicinity of houses.
It arrives there about the 20th of April. As observed about Vancouver
in 1853, its song appeared to Dr. Cooper different from that of the
_T. ædon_. He found one of their nests built in a horse’s skull that
had been stuck upon a fence. Dr. Suckley, who observed these birds
about Fort Steilacoom, describes their voice as harsh and unmusical.
Dr. Cooper has since observed them in California, and in the winter,
in the Colorado Valley, where they roosted at night under the eaves of
the garrison buildings. They make their appearance at San Francisco as
early as March 16, and nest at San Diego in April. He has found their
nests in hollow trees at various heights, from five to forty feet, all
composed of a floor and barricade of long dry twigs, grass, and bark,
loosely placed, but so interwoven as to leave only just space for the
birds to squeeze in over them. They are warmly lined with a large
quantity of feathers. Their eggs he gives as from five to nine in
number.
The late Mr. Hepburn has furnished more full and exact information in
regard to this species. We give it in his own words.
“The _T. parkmanni_ is the common wren of Vancouver Island, far more
so than of California, where I have found the Bewick’s Wren (_T.
bewickii_) much more numerous. Parkman’s Wren builds its nest in
hollow trees in Vancouver Island, about the middle of May, forming it
of small sticks laid at the bottom of the hole, neatly and comfortably
lining it on the inside with feathers that arch over the eggs. It will
also readily avail itself of any similar and equally convenient
cavity. I have known these birds to build under the roof of a frame
house, entering by a hole between the topmost board and the shingles;
also in a hole in a gate-post, through which gate people were
continually passing; and also over a doorway, getting in by a loose
board, in a place where the nest could be reached by the hand. In 1852
I put a cigar-box, with a hole cut in one end, between the forks of a
tree in a garden at Victoria. A pair of Wrens speedily took possession
of it and formed their nest therein, laying seven eggs, the first on
the 18th of May. The eggs of this Wren are white, thickly freckled
with pink spots, so much so in some specimens as to give a general
pink appearance to the egg itself, but forming a zone of a darker hue
near the larger end. They are .81 of an inch in length by .50 in
width.”
Their eggs resemble those of the _T. ædon_ so as to be hardly
distinguishable, yet on comparing several sets of each there seem to
be these constant differences. The spots of the western species are
finer, less marked, more numerous, and of a pinker shade of
reddish-brown. The eggs, too, range a little smaller in size, though
exhibiting great variations. In one nest the average measurement of
its seven eggs is .60 by .50, that of another set of the same number
.70 by .50 of an inch.
In all respects, habits, manners, and notes, Parkman’s Wren is a
perfect counterpart of the eastern House Wren. In the country east of
the Sierra Nevada it almost wholly replaces the western Bewick’s Wren
(_Thryothorus bewickii_, var. _spilurus_), and inhabits any wooded
localities, as little preference being given to the cottonwoods of the
river valleys as to the aspen groves high up in the mountains.
Troglodytes parvulus, var. hyemalis, VIEILL.