NORTHERN WREN. 45 



the white of the inferior parts being less pure, the lesser size and 

 distinctness of the infraorbital white mark, the claw on posterior toe 

 being shorter, and the beak being generally larger." It has the same 

 habits as familiaris , and is common through all Italy, in the plains 

 as well as mountains. Doderlein says it is common in Sicily, and 

 not found in Sardinia and Malta. Blasius did not admit the specific 

 value of these differences. 



With this bird I close my list of the European species of the 

 family Syhiidce. The progress of ornithological discovery in modern 

 days, however, renders it probable that the number will be considerably 

 increased, as every single well-authenticated case of the capture of a 

 bird within the European limits is held sufficient to constitute it a 

 European species by modern writers. I hope to see this system some 

 day altered by the multiplication of such excellent memoirs as those 

 of Tristram and Salvin in the "Ibis," by which our knowledge of 

 geographical ornithology will be much increased, and our boundary 

 species placed in their respective habitats. It must at the same time 

 be borne in mind, as our geographical divisions are entirely arbitrary, 

 so is it impossible to draw a distinct line between the species of one 

 quarter of the globe and another, and yet the fauna? are sufficiently 

 distinct to afford a remarkable illustration of the adaptation of species 

 to climate and country. 



