430 NUTTALL'S SHORT-BILLED MARSH WREN. 



Short-billed Marsh Wren, Troglodytes brevirostris, Nuttall, Manus^l, 

 part i. p. 43G. 



Adult Male. Plate CLXXV. Fig. 1. 



Bill of moderate length, slender, nearly straight, acute, subtrigonal at 

 the base, compressed towards the end ; upper mandible with the dorsal 

 outline slightly arched, the sides convex towards the end, the edges shai-p, 

 the tip narrow but rather obtuse ; lower mandible also much compressed, 

 with the dorsal line straight, the sides nearly erect and slightly rounded, 

 the sharp edges inflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong, with an arched 

 membrane above, open and bare. Head rather compressed, neck and 

 body short. Legs of ordinary length ; tarsus compressed, anteriorly co- 

 vered with six scutella, posteriorly with a long plate forming a sharp edge ; 

 toes scutellate above, the second and fourth nearly equal, the hind toe 

 much stronger, with a much larger claw, the third and fourth united as 

 far as the second joint ; claws arched, much compressed, acute. 



Plumage soft and blended. No bristly feathers about the bill. Wings 

 short, bi-oad, rounded, first quill about half the length of the second, 

 which is considerably shorter than the third, fourth, and fifth, which are 

 nearly equal, the fourth, however, being the longest. Tail of ordinary 

 length, graduated, of twelve narrow rounded feathers. 



Bill dusky above, pale brownish-yellow beneath. Iris dark hazel. Feet 

 pale flesh-colour. The upper parts are blackish-brown, each feather with 

 a brownish-white line along the shaft, and the outer edge towards the end 

 reddish-brown. Wings dusky, the outer edges barred with pale yellowish- 

 brown on the outer webs. Upper tail-coverts and taU similarly barred. 

 Throat and central part of the breast greyish- white, the rest of the lower 

 parts pale reddish-brown, the sides under the wings faintly barred with 

 dusky. 



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

 the edge /g ; tarsus \\. 



Adult Female. Plate CLXXV. Fig. 2. 



The female resembles the male, and the young birds are distinguishable 

 only by having the bill shorter, and the lower parts more tinged with red. 



The Long-billed Marsh Wren is very closely allied to the present 

 species, and the two form part of a group which Vieillot distinguishes 

 by the name of Thyrothorus. 



I 



