1909 1 Townsend, Carolina Wren in New England. 263 



A CAROLINA WREN INVASION OF NEW ENGLAND. 1 



BY CHARLES W. TOWNSEND, M. D. 



Prior to the summer of 1908, the Carolina Wren, Thryothorus 

 ludovicianus, has been but an accidental visitor in New England 

 north of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and a rare summer visitor 

 in these two southern States. Beginning with the summer of 1908 

 reports of this bird in the vicinity of Boston and in other parts of 

 New England became so frequent, that it has seemed worth while 

 to collect as many as possible of these reports, in order to determine 

 the extent of what may be called an invasion into the Transition 

 Zone of this Upper Austral bird. The cause or causes of this in- 

 vasion I shall not attempt to decide, but it is natural to suppose 

 that unfavorable conditions in the South, or favorable conditions in 

 the North, or both combined may have been causative factors; 

 or, on the other hand, that such favorable conditions existed in the 

 South that the birds increased and survived beyond their normal 

 belt with a resulting overflow to unoccupied area. In any event, 

 the abnormally mild winter of 1908-'09 was favorable to the stay 

 of this bird in a region north of its usual winter area. It can hardly 

 be expected that the Carolina Wren will make the extension of its 

 range permanent, for it is probable that in past times before records 

 were kept, the same or similar favorable circumstances for extension 

 have occurred, yet the extension has not been permanent. 



Before recording the occurrence of the Carolina Wren in New 

 England during the last year, i. e. from May 1, 1908, to May 1, 

 1909, it may be well to give briefly the previous standing of this bird 

 in the different States. 



Maine: two records, one of a breeding pair. 2 New HampsJiire: 

 two records. 3 Mr. Charles F. Goodhue of Penacook, N. H., writ- 

 ing under date of April 23, 1909, adds a third record for the State. 

 He says: "I have a fine male in my collection taken at Webster, 

 N. H., April 25, 1902, which is, so far as I can learn, the second 



' Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, May 3, 1909. 

 2 O. W. Knight, The Birds of Maine, Bangor, 1908, p. 585. 



s G. M. Allen, A List of the Birds of New Hampshire, Manchester, N. H., 1903, 

 pp. 172, 173. 



