196 TROGLODYTES 



$ ad. (England). Upper parts reddish brown transversely barred with 

 dark brown ; under parts buffy white, the belly and flanks browner, the 

 latter slightly barred ; a dull white streak over the eye ; outer quills 

 barred with blackish brown and dull brownish white on the outer web ; 

 bill horn-brown, paler at base of lower mandible ; legs light brown ; iris 

 brown. Culmen 0'6, wing 1'9, tail 1-4, tarsus 0'74 inch. The female is 

 somewhat duller in colour and the under parts are browner, and the young 

 are rather more spotted above and less barred on the underparts. 



Hal}. Europe generally ; Asia Minor, east to Persia ; N. Africa. 



Confiding, trustful, and active in its movements, the Wren is 

 one of our best known birds. It frequents gardens, outhouses, 

 and groves, and appears to prefer the vicinity of man. Its 

 flight is short and weak, but it creeps about the underbrush and 

 hedges like a mouse, and with the greatest ease. Its call-note 

 is sharp and clicking, and its song, which is uttered throughout 

 most of the year, is loud, shrill, and pleasing. It feeds chiefly 

 on insects and their larvae, but also to some extent in the 

 autumn on berries. It commences nidification early, building 

 an oven-shaped nest of grass, moss, and lichens, with an 

 entrance-hole on the side, and lines it with feathers. It is 

 placed in a bush, against a tree, a wall or a bank, or in a thatch- 

 roof. The eggs, which are deposited from the middle of April 

 to June, are usually from 6 to 8 in number, and are white, 

 more or less spotted with red, and measure from 0*63 by 0'47 to 

 0-68 by 0-50. Seebohm described the St. Kilda Wren as distinct, 

 naming it (Zool. 1884, p. 333) T. hirtensis ; and Dr. Stejneger 

 separates the bird from S.W. Norway as T. lergensis, but I 

 cannot concur in either of these separations. 



291. SUBSP. TROGLODYTES PALLIDUS. 



Troglodytes pallidus, Hume, Stray Feathers, iii. p. 219, footnote (1873) ; 

 (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. vi. p. 273 ; Dresser, ix. p. 141. 



Ad. (Turkestan). Differs from T. parvulus in being much paler and 

 greyer lacking the warm rufous tinge on the upper parts ; under parts 

 greyish white without any rufous or buff tinge. Culmen 0*5, wing 1 -9, 

 tail 1'35, tarsus 0'72 inch. 



Hal. Transcasjjia east to Eastern Turkestan. 



In general habits it does not appreciably differ from T t 

 parvulus. of which it is a pale desert form. 



