GREAT CAROLINA WREN. 203 



their congenial tribe the Woodpeckers, few of them excel in song ; theii 

 tongues seem better calculated for extracting noxious insects from the 

 bark of trees, than for trilling out sprightly airs ; as the hardened 

 hands of the husbandman are better suited for clearing the forest or 

 guiding the plough, than dancing among the keys of a forte-piano. 

 Which of the two is the most honorable and useful employment 

 is not difficult to determine. Let the farmer, therefore, respect this 

 little bird for its useful qualities, in clearing his fruit and forest trees 

 from destructive insects ; though it cannot serenade him with its song. 



The length of this species is five inches and a half, extent seven and 

 a half; crown white, bordered on each side with a band of black, which 

 is again bounded by a line of white passing over each eye, below this is 

 a large spot of black covering the ear feathers ; chin and throat black ; 

 wings the same, crossed transversely by two bars of white ; breast and 

 back streaked with black and white ; tail, upper and also under coverts, 

 black, edged and bordered with white ; belly white ; legs and feet dirty 

 yellow ; hind claw the longest, and all very sharp pointed ; bill a little 

 compressed sidewise, slightly curved, black above, paler below ; tongue 

 long, fine-pointed, and horny at the extremity. These last circum- 

 stances, joined to its manners, characterize it, decisively, as a creeper. 



The female and young birds of the first year want the black on the 

 throat, having that part of a grayish white. 



Species III. CERTHIA CAROLINIANA* 



GREAT CAROLINA WREN. 



[Plate XII. Fig. 6.] 



Le RoiteJet de la Louisiane, PL Enl. 730, Fig. 1. — Lath. Sijn. vii., p. 507, var. B. 

 — Le Troglodytes de la Louisiane, Buff. Ois. v., p. 361. — MotaciUa Caroliniana 

 (regtdus magtms), BiRTRAM, p. 291.t 



This is another of those equivocal species that so often occur to puz- 

 zle the naturalist. The general appearance of this bird is such, that the 

 most illiterate would at first sight call it a Wren; but the common 

 Wren of Europe, and the Winter Wren of the United States, are both 

 warblers, judging them according to the simple principle of Linnjeus. 

 The present species, however, and the following (the Marsh Wren), 



* This and the two following species were placed by Latham in the genus Sylvia, 

 whence they have been removed by Wilson, without, apparently, sufficient reason. 



t We add the following synonymes: MotaciUa troglodytes, var. y Gsiel. vol. i., p. 

 994. — Sylvia ladoviciana, Lath. Index Orn. sp. 150. 



