504 BRITISH BIRDS. 
Genus TROGLODYTES. 
The genus Troglodytes was established in 1807 by Vieillot, in his 
‘ Histoire naturelle des Oiseaux de ?Amérique Septentrionale,’ ii. p. 52, 
for the reception of the American House- Wren (Troglodytes aedon). Some 
ornithologists, with a perseverance which is almost inconceivable, have 
been pedantic enough not only to try and make this species the type, but 
to exclude the European Wren from the genus. It seems to me that there 
can be no doubt that Viecillot, in adopting the specific name which Linneus 
gave to the European Wren for his,new genus, thereby confessed that 
bird to be the type, though the modern idea of a “type” was unknown 
to him. 
The Wrens are intermediate between the Creepers and the Goldcrests 
in the shape of the bill, which is somewhat long, slender, and slightly 
curved. Their wings are much concaved, and the bastard primary is very 
large. The tarsi are scutellated. The Old-world species have short tails ; 
but in some of the American species the tail is as long as the wing. 
The geographical range of this genus is somewhat more extensive than 
that of the other genera in the subfamily, being throughout the central 
and southern portions of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions, extending 
into the extreme north of the Oriental and throughout the Neotropical 
regions. No fewer than twenty-four species and subspecies of this genus 
have been described ; but probably not more than half a dozen are worthy 
of specific rank. One species only occurs in Europe, having a dark pluvial 
form on the Faroes, and represented by a pale desert form in Algeria. 
The Wrens are Timeline in their habits, skulking in underwood, and 
without undulation in their flight. They are partly insectivorous and 
partly graminivorous. They build domed nests; but their eggs are like 
those of the true Tits, white spotted with red. 
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