648 ' WINTER WREN. 



angrily ; but if the birds think thuj aie in danger, will ([uickly disaiipcar, tiicn it ixM^uiics 

 rapid and thorough beating to make them rise. There are nian\- thickets on the mainland 

 which are so impenetrable that birds are perfectly safe from intruders yet on the keys 

 they are particularly fxvored in this respect, for there the various species of cacti form 

 an excellent cover for them. These plants are armed with many long spines which pre- 

 sent a formidable barrier against the invasion of man or any large animal. Thus in 

 Florida we find this wren keeping apart from mankind and his ways, but in New England 

 they usually pursue a diflerent course. Here they associate with human Ix-ings, building 

 their nests in boxes erected for them, and even if these tiny ediiices are placed in close 

 proximity to the busy thoroughfare the birds may be seen perched on their roofs, siiii^ing 

 their uncouth melodies. Tlie House Wrens will occasionly select a IkiIc in a, tree as a 

 breeding place; even in the North I observed a pair several times al)out an old apple tree 

 which stood in a remote place and, being aware that they had a nest there, made repeat- 

 ed search for it; but after vainly looking in every hole wliicli 1 thought they could enter, 

 ga.ve up in despair. But on pa.'^sing the ]ilace one day I saw the female emerge from a 

 verv small orifice in a high limb which was not larger around than my arm, and up'.)n e:.- 

 amining found the nest concealed in it. I found a nest in a huge buttonwood tree which 

 .stood on an island in the Susipiehanna River near Willianisport l)uilt in a, hole of a limb 

 which was at least eighty feet from the ground. This was on the I'.'th of May, a.nd a 

 large Hight of warlilers and other migrating birds were constantly pa-sing. These \'isitors 

 were const;uitly alighting in the tree much to tlie annoyance of tlie little bro«'ii u'rens 

 which scolded each as it caine most \ehemently, and in some cisl's would acitua,!!}'- attack 

 the smaller species in their anxiety to hold sole possession of tlie tree. The House Wrens 

 breed in New England about the first week in June, in Floi'ida .somewhat earlier. The\ 

 are constant residents in the South but migrants at the North, arriving in tlie siiring about 

 the first of May and departing in early Octolier. 



TROGLODYTES HYEMALiS. 

 Winter Wren. 



Troglodytes liyemalis Vieillot. Nouv. Diet. XXXIV, ISll), oU. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cii, Form, not stout. Size, small. Bill, much shorter than the head, slender, and but .slightly 

 curved. Tail, short and rounded. Sternum, rather weakly built, with the keel very low in comparison to 

 the breadth. Tongue, linear, with the end, in nestlings, rounded, slightly biiid and fringed with cilia. In older 

 specimens it is divided into Tour points like that of the preceding species, only the space between the two 

 central ones is not as deeply cleft. In adult birds the tip becomes broken into irregular points. 



CoLOK. Adult. Above, reddish brown ; darkest on the head, lightest on the rump. Ui^per surface of 

 wings, dark brown, barred on the outer webs with dusky. Tail above, similar to the back, tranversely lined 

 with dusky. Upper wing coverts and sides of neck spotted with white. The nape and rump have concealed 

 spots of white. Beneath, yellowish, which is lightest on the throat, but becomes rufous on the sides, tlanks 

 and abdomen, which are crossed with black and white wavy lines. Under tail coverts, marked witli rufous, 

 black and white. There is a rather indistinct yellowish white superciliary line. The oar coverts are mi.xed 



