' ' GREAT CAROLINA WREN, 043 



TROGLODYTES LUDOVlCiANUS. 

 Great Carolina Wren. 



Troglodytes ludovicianus Litch., Verzeichniss der Doubletten des Zoolog, 1932, 38. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cn. Form, rather mbust. Size, moderate. Tail, about the length of the wings. Bill, not very 

 slender, and as long as the head, with the upper mandible a little curved and slightly notched. Sternum, 

 quite stoutly built, with the keel very low. Tongue, thin and horny, long and linear, with the end divided 

 or broken into irregular points. 



Color. Adult. Above, dark reddish brown, brightest on the rump but becoming blackish on the head. 

 Wings, brown, barred on the outer webs with the same color as the back, which becomes lighter on the first 

 quills. Tail, like the back, barred with dusky. There are concealed white spots on the rump near the ends 

 of the feathers. There are slso some concealed spots of yellowish white on the middle and ends of the feath- 

 ers of the back of the neck. A superciliary line of buff extends from the base of the bill along the sides of 

 the neck, edged above with black. Beneath, yellowish rusty ; darkest on the flanks. Throat, white. Under 

 tail coverts, barred with dusky. There is also an indication of dusky bars on the flanks. Under surface of 

 wings glaucous. Lower side of tail, like the back, but with a glaucous suffusion. Under wing coverts, yel- 

 lowisli, barred with dusky. There is a whitish patch on the lower side of the ear coverts, and a few dusky 

 spots on the neck back of it. Young, similar, but with the upper wing coverts spotted with white. The 

 dusky bars on the flanks are quite- conspicuous, and sometimes extend along the sides. There are also more 

 spots back of the ear coverts. Sexes, alike. Irides, brown. Bill, brown, lighter at the base of the lower 

 mandible. Feet and tarsi bruwn. Nestlings, taken when scarcely fledged, exhibit very little difierence in 

 coloration The under parts are perhaps a little more rufous. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This species is readily distinguished from the T. bewickii by the rufous under parts. Habitat is 

 throughout Eastern United States, from about latitude 41 degrees, south to the gulf, excepting Southern 

 Florida. They winter in the more southern sections. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Length, from n.lO to 5.40 ; stretch, (3.80 to 7.15 ; wing, 2.10 to 2.25 ; tail, 2.15 to 2.35 ; bill, .50 to .55 ; 

 tarsus, .05 to .70. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Ne.sls, composed outwardly of the fibrous substance which grows at the base of palmetto fronds, leaves 

 or sticks, lined with fine fibers. It is usually built in the form of a hollow ball, with a hole in the side. 

 Dimensions ; external diameter, 4 inches ; internal. 2.50 inches. Eggs, usually six in number, rather oval 

 in form, creamy white in color, spotted and blotched irregularly with reddish brown and lilac. These spots 

 vary greatly in number even in the same nest. For instance, one of a set which I have in my collection is 

 covered so thickly that the ground color is nearly obscured, and the longer end is so thickly blotched as to 

 look like a washing of reddish brown and lilac, while there is another egg of the same lot, which is com- 

 paratively clear. The si)ots also show a tendency to cluster on some specimens and form rings around the 

 larger ends. Dimensions, .74 by .50 to .80 by .GO. 



HABITS. 



Thii Great Ciirolina Wrens are birds of retirinsf hal)its, in fact they may be called shy, 

 for, up;)n the approach of man, they instantly hide tliemselves in tlie tliick nndergrowth 

 ofthe hannn(.)ck.s wljich they freqnent, but if one stands (jnieth- near their place of con- 



