TROGLUDYTID.E — THE WRENS. 155 



Troglodytes parvulus, vai. hyemalis, Vieill. 



WINTER WREN. 



Sylvia troglodytes, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 139, pi. viii, f. 6. Troglodytes hyemalis, 

 ViEiLLOT, Nouv. Diet. XXXIV, 1819, 514. —Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 430, pi. 

 ccclx. — Ib. Birds Am. II, 1841, 128, pi. cxxi. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 369; 

 Rev. 144. — ScLATEH, P. Z. S. 1856, 290 {Cordova, Mex.). — Ib. Catal. 1861, 23, no. 

 152. — Dall & Bannister (Alaska). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. i, 1870, 73. 



Sp. Char. Bill very straight, slender, and conical ; shorter than the head. Tail con- 

 siderably shorter than the wings, which reach to its middle. Upper parts reddish-brown ; 

 becoming brighter to the rump and tail ; everywhere, except on the head and upper part 

 of the back, with transverse bars of dusky and of lighter. Scapulars and wing-coverts 

 Avith spots of white. Beneath pale reddish-brown, barred on the posterior half of the 

 body with dusky and whitish, and spotted with white more anteriorly; outer web of 

 primaries similarly spotted with pale brownish-white. An indistinct pale line over the eye. 

 Length, about 4 inches; wing, 1.66; tail, 1.26. 



Hab. North America generally. South to Cordova, Mex. 



Western specimens may be separated as a variety pacijicus (Baird, Eev. 

 Am. Birds, 1864, 145), based on the much darker colors and the almost entire 

 absence of the whitish spots among the dark bars. The under parts are more 

 rufous ; the tarsi are shorter, the claws larger, the bill straighter and more 

 slender. 



The Winter Wren is very closely related to the common Wren (T. parvu- 

 lus, Koch) of Europe, so much so, in fact, that the two almost seem to be 

 varieties of one species. The differences, as shown in a large series from 

 both continents, are the following : In T. parvulus there is a tendency to 

 more uniform shades; and the prevailing tint anteriorly, beneath, is a pale 

 yellowish-ash, almost immaculate, instead of brownish-ochraceous, showing 

 minute specks and darker edges to the feathers. In extreme specimens of 

 T. parvulus the bars even on the tail and wings (except primaries, where 

 they are always distinct) are very obsolete, while on the lower parts tliey are 

 confined to the flanks and crissum. Sometimes, however, specimens of the 

 two are found which are almost undistinguishable from each other. In 

 fact, it is only by taking the plainer European birds and comparing them 

 with the darker American examples from the northwest coast, that the dif- 

 ference between T. parvulus and T. ki/cmalis is readily appreciable. 



Habits. The Winter Wren, nowhere very abundant, seems to be dis- 

 tributed over the wliole of North America. Hardly distinguishable from 

 the common Wren of Europe, it can scarcely be considered as distinct. 

 The habits of our species certainly seem to be very different from those 

 assigned to the European bird, which in England appears to be as common 

 and as familiar a bird as even the Eedbreast. The small size and retiring 

 habits of our species, as well as its unfrequent occurrence, and only in wild 

 places, combine to keep its history in doubt and obscurity. It is supposed 



