610 HISTORY OF THE 



SUBGENUS TIIRYOMANES SCLATER. 



Tail feathers (excepting middle pair) chiefly plain blackish, the outer feath- 

 ers spotted and barred at tip with light grayish and dull whitish; middle pair 

 of tail feathers grayish brown or brownish gray, barred or transversely spotted 

 with black or dusky. (Ridgway.) 



Thryothorus bewickii (Aur>.). 



BEWICK'S WREN. 



Summer resident; very rare. Arrive about the first of April; 

 begin laying early in May; leave about the last of October. 



B. 267. R. 61. C. 71. G. 24, 811. U. 719. 



HABITAT. Eastern United States; north to New Jersey and 

 Minnesota; west to the edge of the Great Plains and eastern 

 Texas; breeding throughout its range; winters in the Southern 

 States. 



SP. CHAR. "Above, dark rufous brown; rump and middle tail feathers some- 

 times a little paler, and very slightly tinged with gray, and (together with the ex- 

 posed surface of secondaries) distinctly barred with dusky. Beneath, soiled 

 plumbeous whitish; flanks brown; crissum banded; ground color of quills and 

 tail feathers brownish black." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 5.40 ,7.15 2.25 2.35 .70 .53 



Female... 5.10 6.90 2.10 2.15 .68 .52 



Iris brown; bill black, with under pale bluish at base; legs, 

 feet and claws dark brown. 



These familiar birds are of rare occurrence in their extreme 

 western range, but very common east of the Mississippi River 

 to the Alleghanies; rare and local eastward. They frequent the 

 thickets and clumps of bushes on the prairies, fields and hill- 

 sides, but in the settled portions of the country prefer for their 

 homes the shrubbery about the dwelling houses and outbuild- 

 ings. Mr. Kidgway, in "Birds of Illinois," happily says: 



"No bird more deserves the protection of man than Bewick's 

 Wren. He does not need man's encouragement, for he comes 

 of his own accord and installs himself as a member of the com- 

 munity wherever it suits his taste. He is found about the cow 

 shed and barn along with the Pewee and Barn Swallow; he in- 

 vestigates the pig sty, then explores the garden fence, and finally 

 mounts to the roof and pours forth one of the sweetest songs 



