196 



ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



TROGLODYTES ^DON. — Vieillot. 



The House Wren. 



Troglodytes cedm, Vieillot. Oia. Am. Sept., IL (1807) 62. Aud. Cm. Biog., I. 

 (1831)427; V. (1839) 470. 



Sylvia domestica, Wilson. Am. Cm., I. (1808) 129. 

 Troglodytes fulvus, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 422. 



Description. 



Tail and wings about equal; bill shorter than the head; above reddish-brown, 

 darker towards the head, brighter on the rump; the feathers everj-where, except on 

 the head and neck, barred with dusky; obscurely so on the back, and still less 

 on the rump ; all the tail feathers barred from the base ; the contrast more vivid on 

 the exterior ones; beneath pale fulvous-white, tinged with light-brownish across the 

 breast; the posterior parts rather dark-brown, obscurely banded; under tail coverts 

 whitish, with dusky bars; an indistinct line over the eye, eyelids, and loral region, 

 whitish; cheeks brown, streaked with whitish. 



Length, four and ninety one-hundredths inches; wing, two and eight one-hun- 

 dredths inches ; tail, two inches. 



^ai. — Eastern United States to the Missouri, or to the high central plains. 



The bill of this species, even from the extreme base, is shorter than the head. 

 The wing is very nearly equal to the tail, and reaches over its basal fourth. The 

 tail is moderately graduated, the lateral feather about .32 of an inch shorter than the 

 middle. The outstretched feet reach about to the end of the tail. 



There are a few whitish spots on the wing coverts. 



This interesting and well-known little bird is very gen- 

 erally distributed througliout New England. It arrives from 

 the South as early as the first week in May, and soon appears 

 about its old haunts in the gar- 

 den and orchard. The famili- 

 arity of this species with man 

 is well known ; and comfortable 

 quarters are provided for its 

 reception, oftentimes in the 

 piazza of a dwelling-house, or 

 in the casement of a window. 

 This little bird is rather quar- 

 relsome, and often drives from 

 its home the Blue-bird and Martin, occupying the prepared 

 nest for its own domicile. When building a nest of its own, 

 it selects a hole in a tree, or post in a fence, and fills the 

 whole cavity with sticks and twigs : this mass is hollowed 



