10 Eidgway's Description of a New Wren. 



the most destructive bird we have, visiting our orchards and de- 

 stroying young buds, blossoms, and fruit. I have swept up a bas- 

 ketful of cherry-blossoms from under one tree in a single day, the 

 heart of the blossoms being the food sought. 



Santa Cruz, California. 



Note. — In reference to Mr. Cooper's allusion in the foregoing article to my 

 paper on the nest and eggs of the California Purple Finch, I will add that the 

 bird sent with the nest is positively Carpodacus purpitrcus var. californicus, and 

 in view of the improbability of Mr. Allen's having shot a bird not the parent of 

 the eggs I am led to believe that these eggs are abnormal specimens, possibly 

 representing what may be termed an albinistic tendency, like occasional white 

 eggs of our common Bluebird. — W. Brewster. 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW WREN FROM THE TRES MARIAS 



ISLANDS. 



BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. 



In casually examining the series of Wrens in the National Mu- 

 seum collection, I happened to notice certain differences between 

 specimens of so-called Thryothorus felix from the Tres Marias 

 Islands, off the western coast of Mexico, and examples typical of the 

 species collected on the adjoining mainland, in the vicinity of Ma- 

 zatlan. These specimens were all obtained subsequent to the pub- 

 lication of Professor Baird's "Review of American Birds" {1864- 

 1866) ; and since Mr. Lawrence makes no mention of the difference 

 alluded to, in either of his recent papers on the ornithology of 

 Western Mexico, I presume that gentleman had no opportunity of 

 making a direct comparison of the series from the two localities. 



The new form is clearly a derivative from the mainland species, 

 but is so far differentiated as to require a distinctive name. I 

 therefore propose to name it Thryothorus lawrencii, in honor of the 

 distinguished ornithologist referred to above. Its characters are 

 as follows : — 



Thryothorus felix, ^. lawrencii, Ridgway, MSS. 

 Char. — Above light grayish-brown, witliout appreciable bars any- 

 where, except on the tail ; pileum decidedly more reddish, and inclin- 

 ing to light cinnamon-brown. Tail similarin color to the back, but 



