WRENS. 



69 



tarsus scutellate ; " hind toe considerably longer than the 

 middle one"; primaries nine. The Wagtails are virtually 

 terrestrial Warblers closely allied to the Seiuri. 



It may be observed that our land-birds, as at present 

 arranged, form a series which may be artificially classified by 

 food. Thus the higher Oscines are chiefly insectivorous, 

 the Shrikes partly insectivorous but otherwise carnivorous, 

 while the subse- 

 quent families are 

 chiefly granivo- 

 rous. The Clama- 

 tores and Pica- 

 rice, the JRaptores, 

 and the Columbce, 

 form a very simi- 

 lar sequence, the 

 Pigeons being, so 

 to speak, vegetari- 

 ans. 



Fig. 3. Winter Wren * 



I. TROGLODYTES. 



A. HIEMALIS. 37 Winter Wren. Wood Wren. Quite 

 common in Massachusetts, during the migrations, in April 

 and October.f 



* The specimen, from which the fig- 

 ure of the Winter Wren was drawn (p. 

 69), had an unusually short tail, in con- 

 sequence of which the figure must be 

 considered inaccurate in regard to that 

 feature. [From Appendix of first edi- 

 tion, p. 443.] 



37 This species has been placed by 

 Baird in this genus (subgenus Anorthu- 

 ra), by other authors in the genus Anor- 

 thura, with the specific name hyemalis 

 or troglodytes. Professor Baird has 

 recently called it a variety of the Eu- 

 ropean T. parvulus. I have here called 

 it the Wood Wren, because Audubon's 

 so-called "Wood Wren " (T. america- 

 nus) is now known to be the same as 

 the House Wren (T. aedon), and be- 



cause the Winter Wrens inhabit woods, 

 almost exclusively, whereas our other 

 Wrens do not. The name is therefore 

 extremely appropriate. For the Great 

 Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovici- 

 anws), see a note at the end of this bio- 

 graphy. 



t The Winter Wren breeds abun- 

 dantly throughout northern New Eng- 

 land, commonly on Mount Graylock, 

 and sparingly and locally in the north- 

 ern portions of Worcester County, Mas- 

 sachusetts. Elsewhere it occurs only 

 during the migrations, when it is never 

 very numerous, and in winter, when in 

 Massachusetts, at least, it is invariably 

 rare. W. B. 



