5i6 



PERCHING BIRDS 



C. fi. hritiDUiicns is the only race breeding in the British Isles, it is pos- 

 sible that the Scandinavian bird may visit these islands occasionally 

 in winter. 



Wren 



(Troglodytes 



parvulus). 



As the wren was popularly supposed, at least in 

 fable, to be the wife of the redbreast, it was only 

 natural that as the former had received the affec- 

 tionate masculine prefix of " Robin " the latter 

 should be christened "Jenny." How the belief or fable first arose it 

 is difficult to say, but it may be suggested that the marked difference 

 between the plumage of the two sexes in domesticated fowls may have 

 had something to do with the matter, and have given rise to the idea 



that a similar difference characterised many 

 other birds (as indeed is the case). Although 

 the present bird always appears to have been 

 the wren par excellence, the name, like that 

 of sparrow and ouzel, was formerly employed 

 in what may be roughly termed a generic 

 rather than a specific sense. Scientificall)-, 

 the wren has suffered considerably in the 

 matter of names, having, in addition to the 

 one here employed, the titles Anorthiira troi^- 

 lodytes and Troy^lodytcs troglodytes. 



That the wren typifies a family — the 

 ,.,..^,. Troglodytid.x' — is admitted on all hands. All 



VV K E N . Q J 



the members of the group are small birds, 

 with their headquarters in tropical America, but also ranging over the 

 temperate, and even a portion of the Arctic zone of the northern 

 hemisphere, although unknown in India and the Malay countries. 

 With ten primary quills to the wing, wrens are characterised by the 

 practical absence of bristles at the gape of the beak, the presence of 

 shield-like scales on the front of the shank of the legs, and the short, 

 concave, and closely-fitting wings. As a rule, the beak is of moderate 

 length, slender, and somewhat curved ; and in the European members 

 of the group the tail is very short and carried upright. Barred 

 and speckled plumage, of a brownish tone of colour, is characteristic 

 of most wrens, this being eminently adapted to render these birds 

 inconspicuous in their resorts. 



From other liritish birds the wren is almost sufficiently distin- 

 guished by its diminutive size, slender beak, short upright tail, and 

 short rounded wings. With the exception that the tone is rather 



HE ROWLAND ^ 



