184 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



and rare or entirely absent south of Richland county, as it de- 

 lights in a rolling or hilly country. 



286. Troglodytes aedon Vieill . House Wren. 



Although this species is said to be very rare in the interior of 

 this state, as well as in the interior of Georgia, it is a common 

 bird along the coast where I have frequently seen hundreds of 

 individuals in a short walk in September. It generally arrives 

 by September 18 (or a little earlier) and remains until April 30; 

 none breed, however. 



Mr. Leverett M. Loomis has announced^ having seen "but 

 two, and these, May 4, 1888, in Chester county." Dr. Eugene 

 Edmund Murphey informs me that it is very rare in Richmond 

 county, Georgia. This wren appears to be supplanted by Be- 

 wick's Wren {Thryomanes bemckii), which is common and breeds 

 in Chester county as well as in Richmond county, Georgia. It 

 would almost seem that wherever Bewick's Wren is common as 

 a migrant or a breeder, the House Wren is rare or even absent. 

 This, however, is not a fact for I found Bewick's Wren and the 

 House Wren wintering in positive abundance near Waukeenah, 

 Florida, in 1894 .^ 



The House Wren frequents wooded land as well as roads which 

 are flanked with thickets of bushes. It also resorts to wood 

 piles where it finds food and shelter during the coldest weather. 

 In spring it sings with avidity. 



This species breeds from Virginia northward to Maine, and 

 winters as far south as eastern Mexico. 



287. Nannus hiemalis (Vieill.). Winter Wren. 



In Audubon's Birds of America,^ he says: 



Having lately spent a winter at Charleston, in South Carolina, with my worthy 

 friend John Bachman, I observed that this little Wren made its appearance in 

 that city and its suburbs in December. On the 1st of January I heard it in full 

 song in the garden of my friend, who informed me that in that State it does not 

 appear regularly every winter, but is sure to be found during very cold weather. 



The statements by Audubon and Bachman that this species 

 arrives in December and also that it is not a regular winter vis- 

 itant are certainly erroneous, for the bird is a regular visitor, 

 arriving as early as September 29, and remaining until April 

 20 or even later. 



» Auk, VIII, 1891, 173. 2 Ibid, XII, 1895, 365-367. ^ h, 131. 



