AVES. 335 



and are usually known by the name of " Sapsuckers," and one species is 

 common in Europe (Sitta europcea). 



The most common species of the United States is the white-breasted 

 nuthatch {S. carolinensis), which is a very familiar and favorite little bird, 

 living throughout the year in the same district, and, in fact, is supposed to 

 ramble but little from the woods in which it was born. Its habits are very 

 similar to those of the small w^oodpeckers, being seen constantly creeping 

 on the surface of limbs and trunks of trees. So secure is its foothold, that 

 it creeps equally well with its head upwards or downwards upon the tree, 

 and is said to roost with the same indifference to position. It frequently 

 in the winter approaches the precincts of dwellings or out-houses, and picks 

 up whatever of insect or other suitable food it can discover. 



Two smaller species are occasionally met with in the United States, the 

 red-bellied and the brown-headed nuthatches {S. canadensis and pnsilla). 

 They entirely resemble in habits the common species. Another and still 

 smaller species (<S. pi/gmea) is found in California. 



Some six or eight species of these little birds are peculiar to Australia 

 and New Zealand. 



Suh-fam. 6. Troglodytince, or Wrens. Bill more or less long and 

 slender, usually slightly curved and somewhat compressed ; wings short 

 and rounded ; tail various, generally rounded ; tarsi long and slender ; toes 

 long, rather slender. Size various, generally small. Colors plain. 



There are about fifty species of the true wrens, which inhabit all parts 

 of the world except Africa. In America, they are more numerous than 

 elsewhere, and are well represented by that universal favorite the house- 

 wren of the United States (Troglodytes cedon), the history of which by the 

 incomparable Wilson we beg leave to extract : " This well known and 

 familiar bird arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of April, and about 

 the 8th or 10th of May begins to build his nest, sometimes in the wooden 

 cornicing under the eaves or in a hollow tree, but most commonly in small 

 boxes fixed on the top of a pole, in or near the garden, to which he is 

 extremely partial, for the great number of caterpillars and other larvae which 

 it constantly supplies him. If all these conveniences are wanting, he will 

 even put up with an old hat, nailed on the weatherboards, with a small 

 hole for entrance ; and if even this be denied him he will find some hole, 

 corner, or crevice about the house, barn, or stable, rather than abandon the 

 dwellings of man. In the month of June a mower hung up his coat, under 

 a shed near the barn, and two or three days elapsed before he had occasion 

 to put it on again ; thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he found it completely 

 filled with some rubbish, as he expressed it, and on extracting the whole 

 mass found it to be the nest of a wren completely finished and lined with a 

 large quantity of feathers. In his I'etreat he was followed by the little 

 forlorn proprietors, who scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining 

 the whole economy of their household affairs. The twigs with which the 

 outward parts of the nest are constructed are short and crooked, that they 

 may the better hook in with one another ; and the hole or entrance is so 

 much shut up, to pi-event the intrusion of snakes or cats, that it appears 



537 



