512 HISTORY OF THE 



Iris brown; bill black, with under pale blue at base; legs, 

 feet and claws dark brown. 



This bleached race of the plains is similar in habits and ac- 

 tions to Bewick's Wren, and its song, call notes, manner of 

 nesting and eggs are not noticeably different. A set of five eggs, 

 taken at Corpus Christi, Texas, May 9th, 18S2, are, in dimen- 

 sions: .62X.49, .63X.49, .63x.50, .63x.50, .63x.50. 



Genus TROGLODYTES Vieii.i.ot. 

 "Bill ouly gently curved at the tip. Outstretched feet, reaching nearly to or 

 beyond the end of the tail. Back without streaks. No distinct superciliary 

 stripe." 



Subgenus TROGLODYTES. 



Tail more than three-fourths as long as wing. {Ridgicay.) 

 Troglodytes aedon aztecus Baird. 



WESTERN HOUSE WREN. 

 PLATE XXXIV. 



Summer resident; common. Arrive in April; begin laying 

 about the middle of May. Leave in September. 



B. 271. R. 63a. C. 75. G. 26, 313. U. 721&. 



Habitat. Western United States, except Pacific coast; east 

 to Illinois; south into Mexico to Vera Cruz; breeds throughout 

 its United States range, and probably southward. 



This variety of T. aedon was entered in my "Catalogues of 

 the Birds of Kansas" as T. aedon ]?arhnani% as at that time its 

 habitat was supposed to embrace the western United States east 

 to or near the Mississippi River. Since then, the A. O. U. Com- 

 mittee, in reviewing the material before them, have decided that 

 the birds on the Pacific coast differ enough in color, etc., to form 

 another subspecies, and, as the name T. jxtrkmanii was given by 

 Audubon to a bird procured on the Columbia River, the new 

 form properly retains the name, and our bird becomes T. aedon 

 aztecus. 



Sp. Char, of T. aedon. "Tail and. wings about equal. Bill shorter tliau 

 head. Above, reddish brown, darker towards the head, brighter on the rump. 

 The feathers everywhere, except on the head and neck, barred with dasky; ob- 

 scurely so on the back, and still less on the rump. All the tail feathers barred 

 from the base; the contrast more vivid on the exterior one. Beneath, pale ful- 



