72 LAND-BIRDS. 



ness of both creatures, at this unexpected meeting, were very 

 ludicrous and yet very charming. 



NOTE. Thryothorus ludovicianus. Great Carolina Wren. 

 Said to have occurred in Connecticut.* 



a. Nearly six inches long. Above, reddish brown ; be- 

 neath, chiefly tawny. Superciliary stripe, white or buify. 

 Wings, tail (and under tail-coverts ? ), black-barred. Wings, 

 often somewhat white-spotted. 



5. " The nest is composed of various warm materials, 

 placed in a cavity, such as the hole of a tree or some hole 

 in a building." An egg in my collection measures about 

 .75 X .55 of an inch, and is dull white, spotted somewhat 

 coarsely with obscure lilac and several rather quiet browns, 

 which are chiefly collected at the crown. 



c. The Great Carolina Wrens ( Thryothorus In dovici anus), 

 so far as I know, have not previously been reported as visitors 

 to Massachusetts, but there are at present [1875] two appa- 

 rently passing the summer in a small wooded swamp near 

 Boston. It is believed that they have arrived since the fourth 

 of July, soon after which my attention was attracted by their 

 loud notes, which I immediately recognized through their gen- 

 eral likeness to the notes of other Wrens, and the descriptions 

 of Wilson and Audubon. It is further believed that they are 

 now building or have recently built their nest, the female be- 

 ing rarely seen, though the male often visits the shrubbery 

 about the house. Though unwilling that they should be shot, 

 I have no doubt as to their identity, partly on account of their 

 music, which I have never before heard, though familiar with 

 our birds. Moreover, the description of the birds which I wrote 

 on the spot, where I first obtained a good view of the male, 



* In addition to the birds mentioned reported (Bull. N. O. C., Vol. VI, 1881, 



by Mr. Minot, three specimens have p. 54) seeing two birds (one of which he 



been since taken in Massachusetts, the shot) at Rye Beach, New Hampshire, 



first at Lynn, July 6, 1878, by Mr. August 7, 1880. The species has been 



George O. Welch ; the second in repeatedly taken in Connecticut, and 



Brookline, November 4, 1883, by Mr. at least once in Rhode Island, but even 



Arthur Smith ; the third in Cam- in the extreme southern portions of 



bridge, September 27, 1891, by Mr. C. New England it is evidently of rare 



F. Eatchelder. Mr. Spelman has also and irregular occurrence. W. B. 



