TU<)(rL()DVTID.E — THE WUEXS. 153 



Troglodytes 8Ddon, vai. parkmanni, Aud. 



FABKXAN'8 WBEK ; WESTEBK WOOD WREN. 



TroffhnhfUn IMtrkmnnni, Ari>. 0\\\. Bioj^. V, 1839, 310. — Ib. Synopsis, 1830, 76. — In. 

 Birds Am. 11, 1841, 133, j.l. cxxii. - lUiun, Hinls N. Am. 1N.>8, 3«;7 ; KNv. 140. - 



C«.01'KU& SrCKLEY, r. 1?. I{. \U\}. Xll, II, 18»50, 1«>1 (lU'st). — Sci.ATKK, ( "iltill. \^i\\, 



23, no. 146. — ('<m>i'Ki:, C-rn. (*al. I, 187<'. 71. Tn>ij!i whites sijhratris <Jamijkl, I'r. A. 

 N. Sc. HI, 1846, 113 (California, quotes erroneously Aid. T. anieriaiuas). 



IlAn. Wostorn and Middle Provinces of United States. East to the Missouri River. 

 Western Arizona, C'orE.>4. 



Altlioiigli the difterences between the ea.stern aud western House Wrens, 

 as stated in the Birds of North An)erica, are not very appreciable, yet 

 a comparison of an extensive series shows that they can hardly be consiil- 

 ered as identical. The "general color oi pnrl'maaiii above is i)aler and grayer, 

 and there is little or none of the rufous of the lower back and rump. The 

 bars on the upi»er surface are rather more distinct. The under parts are 

 more alike, as, while adon sometimes has flanks pnd crissum strongly tinged 

 witli rufous, other s})ecimens are as pale as in T. pftrlmanni. 



Perhaps the most a])]>reciablo ditt'erences between the two are to be found 

 in the size and projiortions of wing and tail. The wing in parhnrnini is 

 quite decidedly longer than in (n/o.-i, measuring, in males, 2.12 to 2.15, in- 

 stead of 2.00 to 2 ur>. This is due not so much to a larger size as to a greater 

 development of the primaries. The first (piill is eiiual to or barely more 

 than half tlie .second '\\\ pavknidnni ; and the ditterence between the longest 

 primary and the tenth amounts to .:>2 of an inch, instead of about .20 in 

 a (Ion, where the tii"st ([uill is nearly half the length of the third, and much 

 more than half the length of the .second. 



Haiuts. This western form, hardly distinguishable from the common 

 House Wren of the Kastern States, if recognized as a distinct species, 

 is its complete analogue in regard to habits, ne.st, eggs, etc. It was first 

 obtained by Townsend on the ('(dinnbia Iliver, and descril)ed by Audul)on in 

 IS.*)!). It has since been observed in various parts of the country, from the 

 ]\Iississip])i Valley to the Pacific Coast, and from ('a])e St. Lucas to Oregon. 



Dr. t'oo]>er, in his liirds of Washington Territory, sjieaks of this Wren as 

 common about Puget St)untl, wliere it appeared to be much less familiar than 

 our common Wren, tliough its habits and soni,' seemed to be verv similar. It 

 there tmiuented chiefiy the vicinity of woods and piles of h)gs^ neither 

 seeking nor dwelling in the vicinity of lumses. It arrives there about the 

 2()th of April. As observed al)out Vancouver in IS").'!, its song appeared to 

 Dr. C<»oper difierent from that of the T. arhn. He found one of their nests 

 built in a horse's skull that had been stuck upon a fence. Dr. Sucklev, who 

 observed these birds about Fort Steilacoom, describes their voice as harsh 



and umnusical. 



20 



