THE MIGRATION OF INLAND BIRDS. 107 



becoming more abundant, and therefore a more promi- 

 nent feature in our avi-fauna. 



The interest centering in this species, however, is not 

 the fact of their summer sojourn here, but that they 

 have wholly relinquished the migratory habit. They 

 are as abundant, as full of song, as familiar, and as super- 

 latively restless and wren-like in January as in June, and 

 in this they afford an instance of change of habit that is 

 worthy of consideration. It is not the only example, 

 however, of a wren braving the severity of our winters. 

 We have the true winter wren, and, in scanty numbers, 

 Bewick's wren. It has already been mentioned that the 

 supposed regularity of the movements of the common 

 house-wren does not now obtain. Indeed, during the 

 past seven years, I have carefully noted the dates of 

 arrival and departure of the house wren, and find that 

 they are here both earlier in April and later in autumn 

 than I had supposed. It would appear 'that they, too, are 

 slowly becoming accustomed to our wintry spring days 

 and early foretastes of winter, and that their tarrying 

 with us is simply a question of food. In the case of the 

 Carolina wren, may it not be said that the descendants of 

 the wrens found in New Jersey, by Audubon, fifty years 

 ago, have become acclimated, and so remain throughout 

 the year ; or do these birds, in scanty numbers, annually 

 migrate from more southern localities, and leave a few 

 of their progeny behind when the winter winds again 

 drive them southward? It is immaterial which is the 

 case, as it suffices to know that here, in Central New Jer- 

 sey, the Carolina wren, a well-marked southern species, 

 has of late years become an abundant resident species. 

 "With the change, too, has come a change in its habits, so 

 far as this was necessary to enable it to seek a sufficient 

 food-supply in winter. Just where it finds this food in 



