Notes on the Plumage of North American Birds 87 



The House Wren ranges from Cape Horn to Canada. Several specific and 

 many subspecific names are applied to it in this wide area, but one has only to 

 see the birds and hear them sing, whether in South America or North America, 

 to be convinced of their close relationship. 



In the United States we have only two races, Troglodytes aedon aedon of the 

 East and Troglodytes aedon parkmani of the West. 



Winter Wren {N annus hiemalis, Fig. 3). — The nestling Winter Wren has 

 the breast mottled or margined with dusky, and the presence of these markings 

 in connection with the barrings on the flanks make the juvenal plumage quite 

 unlike that of the adult. Only the flank markings are retained at the post- 

 juvenal molt, after which young and old are alike in color. There is no spring 

 molt, and the summer plumage is essentially like that of winter. 



Three races and two closely allied 'species' of the Winter Wren are known 

 in North America. N annus hiemalis hiemalis, the Eastern Winter Wren, ranges 

 westward to Alberta; N. h. pacificus, the Western Winter Wren, is found from 

 western Alberta to the Pacific coast; and N. h. helleri, the Kadiak Winter Wren 

 inhabits Kadiak Island. 



Alaska Wren {N annus alascensis, Fig. 4). — The Alaska Winter Wren is 

 a representative form of the Winter Wren found in the western part of the 

 Alaska Peninsula, the eastern Aleutian Islands, and St. George Island of the 

 Pribilof group. It differs from the Winter Wren chiefly in having a slightly 

 longer bill; below, it more nearly resembles the Western Winter Wren in color, 

 while the upperparts are more like those of the Eastern Winter Wren. 



The Aleutian Wren {Nannus meliger) represents the Aleutian Wren in the 

 Western Aleutian Islands. 



Long-billed Marsh Wren (Telmatodytes palustris, Fig. 5). — The nestling 

 Long-billed Marsh Wren has the crown and foreback black without white 

 streaks and is thus quite unlike the adult in appearance; but after the post- 

 juvenal plumage, old and young wear the same kind of plumage. In Dwight's 

 opinion, there is a complete prenuptial or spring molt in this species. 



Five races of this species are known, as follows: (i) Telmatodytes palustris 

 palustris of the northeastern states; (2) T. p. mariance and T. p. griseus with a 

 not fully understood range in the southeastern states; (3) T. p. iliacus of the 

 "plains and prairies of central North America;" (4) T. p. plesius of the "arid 

 interior of North America;" and (5) T. p. paludicola of the Pacific coast. 



Short-billed Marsh Wren (Cistothorus stellaris, Fig. 6). — I have seen no 

 specimens of this species in nestling plumage. In the nestlings of Cistothorus 

 apolinari, a species from the Andes of Colombia, the streaks of the upper- 

 parts are nearly obsolete. According to Dwight, the young of our species after 

 the postjuvenal molt cannot be distinguished from the adult, and there is a 

 complete spring molt. There is only one species of Short-billed Marsh Wren 

 in North America, but closely allied species are found as far south as Argentina. 



