376 



TIi-lASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 



seconds in an undecided way, they will return to or near the place 

 from which they rose. 



Their flight is light and airy, and in loose companies they undulate 

 gently through the air witiiout apparent effort, uttering their faint 

 dee-dee as they fly. 



Spkagik's Pipit {700. Anf/iUH >ipraffueii),(iHi)0(.'\c» of tho Great IMuins, lias 

 been once recorded from near Charleston, S. C. (Wayne, Auk, xi, 18'J4, p. 80). 



The EiRopEAN White Wagtail {694. Motacilla alba) and P^ikopean 

 Meadow Pipit (GOS. Aiithus pratensis) have been recorded as of aeeidentai 

 occurrence in Greenland. 



Family Troqlodytid^. Thrashers, Wrens, etc. 



Two quite different subfamilies are included under this head, the 

 Thrashers and Mockingbirds, numbering some ftfty species, and com- 

 prising the subfamily Miminm, and the subfamily T'roglodytinw, which 

 includes the one hundred and fifty known species oi Wrens. The 

 former is a distinctively American group, most numerously represented 

 in the tropical and subtropical parts of the continent, only a dozen spe- 

 cies reaching the United States. Generally speaking, they are inhab- 

 itants of scruV)by growths and bushy borders of woods. They are pos- 

 sessed of remarkable vocal ability, and the Mockingbirds, of which 

 there are sixteen species, are universally conceded first rank among 

 cur song birds so far as powers of execution are concerned. 



The Wrens have a few representatives in the Old World, but by 

 far the greater number inhabit America, whore they are most abundant 

 in the tropics. Wrens, as a rule, are thicket haunters. They are 

 active, nervous, excitable birds, and most of the species have charac- 

 teristic scolding notes with which they express displeasure or alarm. 

 The majority are highly musical. 



KEV TO THE species. 



A. Winjjover S-oO; tail without black bars, 

 rt. Back slate-color; capl)lack; under tail-coverts rufous-brown. 



7<H. GATniRn. 



b. Back and crown grayish ; under parts whitisii ; outer tail-fcatlicrs wiiite. 



T0.'5. MoCKINUIIIKI). 



c. Back rufous; under parts spotted witli l)lack . TOo. Bkown Tiikasiiek. 

 Ji. Willi; less tlian .S-OO ; tail with numerous small bars. 



a. Upper parts rufous, a Ioult, coiisjiicuous whitish line over the eye; under 

 partH crcam-bu.'t or ochraceous-buff ; wing 2"25 or over. 



718. Garoi.ina When. Il^^a. Fi.okioa Wrkv. 



h. Upper parts uniform dark, reddish olive-brown; back without white 

 Btrenks. 



