444 TROGLODYTID®. 
Family TROGLODYTID. 
The birds of this family are very close to those of the last but 
seem to be sutticiently divided by the short, rounded wings of the 
Wrens as compared with the longer, pointed wings of the Tree- 
Creepers; the tarsi also are longer and the bill, though varying 
in shape from the curious wedge-shaped bill of Sphenocichla to the 
thin, narrow bill of Zvoglodytes, is never like the long, slight bill 
of Certhia with the culmen curved downwards practically from 
its base. 
In the TZroglodytide the tail is composed of soft feathers 
numbering from 6 in Pnoepyga and 10 in Spelwornis to 12 in 
others; the tarsi and feet are very strong; there are no rictal 
bristles except in the rather aberr ant genus Jesta. The young of 
the spotted forms are much less barred or spotted than the adults, 
whilst the young of Zesia have quite a different coloration to that 
of either parent. In some of the genera the sexes are alike, 
whilst in others they differ greatly. 
Key to Genera. 
A. Without any rictal bristles. 
a. Tail much shorter than wing. 
a’. Tail of twelve feathers. 
a''. Tail not greatly graduated, the outer- 
most feathers about three-quarters 
length ofcentral. Genin... es to ee TROGLODYTES, p. 444. 
6". Tail much graduated, outermost 
feathers only half length of central. ELAcHuRa, p. 448. 
Dy Lailiot fem feathers <.. cea eicinctes ae SPELZORNIS, p. 461. 
cl. el all Of isix feathers. Geta. sien: PNorPYGA, p. 467. 
b. Tail and wing about the same in length . SpHENocrIcHLA, p. 460. 
B. With well-developed rictal bristles ...... Tesi, p. 462. 
Genus TROGLODYTES Vieill., 1807. 
The name 7’roglodytes has been rejected as it was first applied 
to an American Wren; as this species, however, is quite con- 
generic with the English Wren, of which the Indian forms are 
but loeal races, it should be retained. 
In Troglodytes the sexes are alike and the young bird is similar 
to theadult. The bill is very slender and feeble and about half the 
length of the head; the wing is extremely short and rounded, 
the first primary being about two-thirds the length of the second ; 
the tail, of 12 feathers, is shorter than the wing and not very 
much graduated, the outer feathers being about three-quarters 
the length of the central ones; the tarsi and claws are long and 
slender. 
