430 HOUSE WREN. 



acute and overlapping ; under mandible with the back and sides convex. 

 Nostrils oblong, straight, basal, with a cartilaginous lid above, open and 

 bare. Head ovate, eyes of moderate size, neck of ordinary length, body 

 ovate, nearly equal in breadth and depth. Legs of ordinary length ; 

 tarsus longer then the middle toe, compressed, covered anteriorly 

 with six scutella, posteriorly with a long plate forming an acute angle. 

 Toes scutellate above, inferiorly granulate, second and fourth nearly 

 equal, the hind toe almost equal to the middle one, third and fourth uni- 

 ted as far as the second joint ; claws long, slender, acute, arcuate, much 

 compressed. 



Plumage soft, tufty, slightly glossed. No bristly feathers about the 

 beak. Wings shortish, broad, rounded : first quill half the length of the 

 second, which is very little shorter than the third and fourth. Tail of 

 ordinary length, of twelve narrow, lax feathers. 



Bill dark brown above, yellowish-bro^vn beneath. Iris hazel. Feet 

 flesh-colour. The general colour of the upper parts is reddish-brown, 

 darker on the head, brighter on the tail-coverts, indistinctly barred with 

 dark brown ; wings and tail undulatingly banded, tips of the larger 

 wing-coverts whitish. A yellowish-grey line from the upper mandible 

 over the eye ; cheeks of the same colour, mottled with brownish-red. 

 Under parts broAvnish-grey ; sides barred with brown, as are the under 

 tail-coverts. 



Length 4^ inches, extent of wings 5| ; bill along the ridge ^, along 

 the gap I ; tarsus |, middle toe y'g. 



Adult Female. Plate LXXXIII. Fig. 2. 



The female scarcely differs from the male in external appearance. 



Young Birds. Plate LXXXIII. Fig. 3. 



The young are of a lighter brown, more indistinctly barred, but re- 

 semble the old birds in the general distribution of their colouring. • 



This species differs from the Winter Wren, chiefly in having the 

 biU a little stouter, the tail considex-ably longer, and the under parts 

 less distinctly barred. 



