About the House. 



19 



with a dai'ker shade of the same color. They are more than two thirds of 

 an inch long, and about half an inch broad. 



The bird is dull brown in color on its upper parts, becoming brighter on 

 the rump and tail. The feathers on the rump have concealed whitish spots 

 and are of a downy character. The back and rump usually are distinctly 

 barred, but sometimes 

 lack such markings. 

 The throat and under 

 parts are grayish white, 

 and the sides and flanks 

 are more or less barred 

 with blackish brown. 

 The wintrs and tail are 



o 



finely barred with black- 

 ish brown. The sexes 

 are alike and the young 

 not dissimilar in appear- 

 ance. The length of 

 the bird is about five 



inches. They are migratory and are distributed throughout Eastern North 

 America, breeding as far north as Manitoba, Southern Canada, and Maine. 

 They winter in the southern part of their range. 



HOUSE WREN. ABOUT THREE WEEKS OLD. 



This bird is a close ally and representative, taking the place of the 



House Wren of the Eastern .States, in Illinois and Minnesota. It is a bird 



similar in size and habits, but is more grayish brown, and 

 Western House n i- 1 1 • -. .. t-u u • 



Wren generally lighter m color m its upper parts. 1 he barring 



Troglodytes aedon aztecus of the back aud ruiiip is more distinct, the color of the 



^^"'^' bars being blacker. The range of this bird is throughout 



the Western United States, except those of the Pacific Coast. 



In parts of the range of the House Wren, particularly in the South, 



west of the Alleghanies, there seem to be localities where 



T.^^r^^^l^ ^v^.":, that bird's place is taken by a wren of about the same 



Thryothorus bewickiirAud.). ^ -^ -i 1 t -ii 



size, but slimmer and with a decidedly longer tail and bill. 

 This, too, is a house bird, and except in unsettled districts selects build- 



