310 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



spiders' webs and lined with tow and soft feathers of barnyard fowls. 

 The eggs are usually seven to nine in number, but occasionally more, 

 and are white, rather sparsely speckled round the larger end with brown." 



GENUS TROGLODYTES VIEILLOT. 

 Troglodytes aedon VIEILL. 



House Wreii. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 45,). 



Length about 4f inches ; extent about 6| ; bill, legs and eyes brown, above brown, 

 rusty on rump and tail ; lower parts dull brownish-white or grayish-white ; more or 

 less waved or barred with darker shades ; back very obscurely or not at all barred. 



Habitat. Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to Indiana and 

 Louisiana. 



Common summer resident. Arrives here usually about April 20, and 

 remains until about the 1st of October. In Washington county Messrs. 

 Compton, Warrick and Nease record this species as a rare summer resident. 

 The common representative of this group in Washington county is the 

 Carolina Wren, which is found there during all months of the year. Dur- 

 ing the summer is found mostly about orchards and in shrubbery near 

 buildings. When migrating these birds are often seen in woods, but 

 they seldom breed there. The nest of twigs, wool, strings, feathers, 

 hair, grasses, etc., is built in various odd places ; holes in trees, boxes 

 and hollow fence rails are the most usual building sites. They will 

 build also in an old hat, the sleeves of an old coat or back of loose 

 weather boards on buildings. In the summer of 1888, Mr. Geo. B. Sen- 

 nett and the writer found a nest, with four young, built in a cavity in a 

 sand bank along the roadside. The eggs, six to nine, mostly seven, 

 measure about .65 long by .50 wide. They are pinkish or creamy- 

 white, speckled with reddish-brown ; the brown markings are generally 

 darker colored about the larger end, though the lighter ground color 

 is often almost entirely hidden by the brown coloration. With us at 

 least two broods are raised in a season. The House Wren feeds on 

 beetles, spiders, flies, " moth-flies," grasshoppers and larvae. 



Troglodytes hiemalis VIEILL 



Winter Wren. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 72). 



Length about 4 ; extent about 6 inches ; upper bill, end of low r er, tarsi and eyes 

 brown, rest of lower bill and toes yellowish-brown. Above reddish-brown, darkest 

 on head, brightest on rump and tail. Everywhere except on head and upper part 

 of back with transverse bars of dusky and lighter ; lower parts pale reddish-brown ; 

 belly, flanks and crissum strongly barred with blackish and whitish ; the outer 



