15 



ANORTHURA TROGLODYTES. EUROPEAN WREN. 



Motacilla Troglodytes. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 337. 



Motacilla Troglodytes, Lath. Ind. Orn. IL 547. 



Wren. Mont. Orn. Diet. 



Troglodyte ordinaire. Sylvia Troglodytes. Temm. Man. d'Orn. I, 233. 



Troglodyte ordinaire. Troglodytes vulgaris, Temm. Man. d'Orn. III. 160. 



Common Wren. Troglodytes Europseus. Selb. lUustr. I. 390. 



Troglodytes Europseus. Common Wren. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 153. 



Upper parts reddish-brown^ lower light greyish-brown ; a 

 brownish-ichite streak over the eye, the hind parts of both sur- 

 faces barred with dusky, two transverse bands of white dots on the 

 wings. 



Male. — The AVren is one of the most familiarly known of 

 our small birds, being rendered remarkable, not less by its pecu- 

 liar form than by the liveliness of its motions. Next to the 

 Robin, it is perhaps the least liable to molestation from boys and 

 idle people ; and for this security it is indebted partly to its 

 small size, and partly to its cheerfulness and innocence. Its 

 aspect is so peculiar that every person must have taken notice 

 of it as differing from that of other small birds, the body being 

 short and full, the tail elevated or erected, the wings short, the 

 head of moderate size, the bill very slender, and the feet mode- 

 rate. The various parts having been described in the generic 

 character, and there being no other species of the genus in this 



