ST.-KILDA WREN. 665 



They vary in length from '72 to '69 inch, and in breadth from '58 to 

 55 inch. 



Since last year five other examples of the St.-Kilda Wren have been 

 obtained, in all of which the pale colour and the profuse barring of the 

 back and the strong bill and large feet are very conspicuous. Unfortu- 

 nately the half-dozen examples of this bird were all shot in June, and are 

 consequently in somewhat abraded plumage. From residence ^in uch an 

 exposed locality as St. Kilda, a bird which only moults once in the year 

 may fairly be expected to become considerably bleached by exposure to 

 the sun, wind, and rain. It is possible that newly-moulted examples very 

 closely resemble the race inhabiting Iceland and the Faroes, which, so far 

 as is at present known, are supposed to differ only in being darker and 

 more rufous in colour. 



Except in having the bill and feet larger, the St.-Kilda Wren does 

 not differ in size from the Common Wren. The female is slightly 

 smaller than the male. In summer plumage the general colour of the 

 upper parts of the adult is greyish brown, slightly more rufous on the 

 upper tail-coverts and tail ;* below the nape each feather is transversely 

 barred with dark brown, most of the bars being emphasized by the ground- 

 colour being much paler below them; these bars extend to the wing- 

 coverts, the innermost secondaries, the outer webs of the quills, and to 

 both webs of the tail-feathers. The underparts and the streak over each 

 eye are pale grey, each feather on the flanks, lower belly, vent, and under 

 tail-coverts being barred with brown. Bill brown, paler on the under 

 mandible ; legs and feet pale brown ; irides hazel. Young in first plumage 

 and adults after the autumn moult are unknown. Its large feet, combined 

 with its pale colour, suffice to distinguish it from all the other races of 

 Wren except Troglodytes pallescens, from which it only differs in being 

 a shade less rufous in colour, somewhat more distinctly barred on the 

 upper parts, and slightly less so on the underparts. 



VOL. III. 



