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196 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
TROGLODYTES DON. — Vieillot. 
The House Wren. 
Troglodytes edon, Vieillot. Ois. Am. Sept., Il. (1807) 62. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. 
(1831) 427; V. (1839) 470. 
Sylvia domestica, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 129. 
Troglodytes fulvus, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 422. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Tail and wings about equal; bill shorter than the head; above reddish-brown, 
darker towards the head, brighter on the rump; the feathers everywhere, except on 
the head and neck, barred with dusky; obscurely so on the back, and still less 
on the rump; all the tail feathers barred from the base; the contrast more vivid on 
the exterior ones; beneath pale fulvous-white, tinged with light-brownish across the 
breast; the posterior parts rather dark-brown, obscurely banded; under tail coverts 
whitish, with dusky bars; an indistinct line over the eye, eyelids, and loral region, 
whitish; cheeks brown, streaked with whitish. 
Length, four and ninety one-hundredths ae wing, two and eight one-hun- 
dredths inches; tail, two inches. 
Hab. — astern United States to the Missouri, or to the high ecneul plains. 
The bill of this species, even from the extreme base, is shorter than the head. 
The wing is very nearly equal to the tail, and reaches over its basal fourth. The 
tail is moderately graduated, the lateral feather about .32 of an inch shorter than the 
middle. The outstretched feet reach about to the end of the tail. 
There are a few whitish spots on the wing coverts. 
This interesting and well-known little bird is very gen- 
erally distributed throughout New England. It arrives from 
the South as early as the first week in May, and soon appears 
about its old haunts in the gar- 
den and orchard. The famili- 
arity of this species with man 
is well known; and comfortable 
quarters are provided for its 
reception, oftentimes in the 
piazza of a dwelling-house, or 
in the casement of a window. 
This little bird is rather quar- 
relsome, and often drives from 
its home the Blue-bird and Martin, occupying the prepared 
nest for its own domicile. When building a nest of its own, 
it selects a hole in a tree, or post in a fence, and fills the 
whole cavity with sticks and twigs: this mass is hollowed 
