THE WREN 



[ORDER : Pdsseriformes, FAMILY : Troglodtftidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



WREN [Troglodytes troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus) [Troglodytes parvulus, 

 Koch]. Jenny- or Kitty-wren. French, roitelet; German, Zaunkonig; 

 Italian, re degli uccelli}. 



i. Description. Crown, hind-neck, scapulars, interscapulars, and rump 

 brown, varying in hue, hi different individuals, from greyish, light chestnut, to 

 sepia brown, more or less obscurely barred with narrow black lines on the rump, 

 which is always slightly brighter than the rest of the upper parts. Tail, as rump, 

 narrowly barred black, the intensity of the barring, and the number of bars, vary- 

 ing. There is a more or less distinct superciliary stripe, and the cheeks are more 

 or less distinctly mottled with dun, brown, and white. The under parts are also 

 variable in their coloration. The throat, fore-neck, and upper breast range from 

 dull white to brownish white, and may be uniform, or mottled with ochreous : the 

 hinder region of the flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts more or less dis- 

 tinctly barred with narrow bars of dun, black, or dark brown. The primaries 

 have the under webs barred alternately with black and white, or brown, the bars 

 varying much in distinctness, width, and hue. The secondaries narrowly barred 

 black. Shafts of median coverts each with a minute spot of white at tips. 

 In some individuals the under parts are faintly barred with dark brown : these 

 are, perhaps, immature. Hebridean birds are rather more conspicuously barred in 

 the hinder region of the flanks. This variability, and range of coloration, does 

 not seem to be associated with the distribution, as similar specimens may be met 

 with in England, Scotland, and Ireland. (PL 32.) The sexes are alike in plumage. 

 Length 3J in. [88 mm.]. Juvenile (fledgling) plumage : the young birds in their 

 first plumage appear to differ from the adults only in having a less distinct 



