TROGLODYTID.t:. 



107 



THE WREN. 



Tr(')(;i,u1)Vtes parvulus, K. L. Koch. 



The Wren, a bird as familiar in our traditional associations as the 

 Robin Redbreast, is generally distributed throughout the British 

 Islands ; being a resident even in the Shetlands. A single example 

 from St. Kilda has been described by Mr. Seebohm as a new species, 

 T. hirtensis (Zool. 1884, p. 333) ; but Mr. Dresser, who subsequently 

 examined seven examples, considers that the supposed points of 

 difference are all to be found in specimens from various parts of 

 Europe, and that the bird is not worthy of specific rank (Ibis 1886, 

 p. 43). By this time the few pairs which inhabited the island have 

 probably been extirpated. Although the Wren is a resident species 

 with us, its numbers are largely increased by autumnal immigration ; 

 many being found in October, according to Mr. Cordeaux, on 

 and near the treeless coasts of Lincolnshire and the south of York- 

 shire, and, perhaps less abundantly, in Norfolk. 



Iceland and the Foeroes are inhabited by a larger and darker 

 Wren, more barred beneath, which has been separated as T. borealis. 

 Dr. Stejneger has distinguished the Wren found in the south-west of 

 Norway as T. bergeusis ; but with this exception the typical form 

 inhabits the whole of Europe, ranging to 64° N. in Sweden, and 

 nearly as high in Finland and Russia. Eastward, the Ural Mountains 

 appear to be its boundary, and in the Volga district it is chiefly 

 observed in winter. Statements respecting its occurrence in the 

 Conaries and Madeira require confirmation ; but it is found in 



