44 Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Wren of St. Kilda. 



more distinctly barred on the back than the St. Kilda bird, 

 and has the throat and breast quite white, without any trace 

 of spots ; in fact, it agrees very closely with examples from 

 St. Kilda, except that it is more rufous in tinge of colour. 

 I do not find any difference between the bill of the St. Kilda 

 Wren and that of typical examples from Europe; and I cannot 

 agree with Mr. Dixon (Ibis, 1885, p. 81) in his statement 

 that the bill of the former resembles that of Troglodytes 

 borealis, inasmuch as T. borealis has a much larger and con- 

 spicuously stouter bill. All the last-received specimens of 

 the St. Kilda Wren are conspicuously pale and grey in tinge 

 of colour ; but this is easily accounted for by the fact that 

 they were all sent in spirits, and it is well known that birds 

 thus treated become paler in colour, and that any tinge of 

 rufous in the plumage is most apt to suifer. In point of fact, 

 the type specimen of so-called Troglodytes hirtensis is con- 

 siderably more rufescent than the last sjjirit-preserved ex- 

 amples received from there, and is about the same in tinge 

 of colour as the specimen from Asia Minor above referred to. 

 In size the St. Kilda Wren agrees closely with examj^les 

 from different parts of Europe, except that it has the wing 

 and tarsus a trifle longer, as will be seen by the following 

 table of measurements, all the specimens being males : — 



Hind toe 



Culmen. Wing. Tail. Tarsus, without claw. 



in. in. in. in. in. 



England 0-55 1-95 1-35 075 0-35 



Ditto 0-55 1-92 1-35 0-70 033 



Piedmont 0-52 1-00 1-35 0-68 033 



Macedonia 0-55 1-90 1-40 0-70 0-32 



Asia Minor .... 0-55 ]-90 1-35 075 0-33 



Palestine 0-65 1-95 1-45 0-75 033 



Central Asia .... 0-55 2-00 1-40 0-75 033 



St. Kilda 0-55 210 1-50 075 0-33 



Ditto 055 2-05 1-55 078 0-33 



The Faroese Wren {Troglodytes borealis) differs from Tro- 

 glodytes parvulus in having the underparts more strongly 

 barred, in being darker in colour, and especially in being 

 somewhat larger in size, and in having a much stouter bill and 



