4 
parts of Europe at least, this little bird is a partial migrant. In Portugal it is, according to 
Professor Barboza du Bocage, common; and Mr. Howard Saunders, who has lent me Spanish 
specimens for examination, writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 209) that it is in Southern Spain “not 
uncommon on the wooded hills,’ but he never succeeded in finding its nest. Major Irby 
writes that “the Wren is resident in Andalucia, but much more common during the winter 
months. They nest very early, as I have seen the young able to fly by the 26th of April. A pair 
in 1872 frequented the Alameda at Gibraltar to the end of May, and doubtless nested there.” 
It is likewise found generally throughout Southern Europe. Bailly records it as common and 
resident in Switzerland and Savoy. Salvadori (J. f. O. 1865, p. 153) speaks of it as found 
in Italy, in the summer season in the mountains, and on the plains in the winter; and Doderlein 
says the same as regards Sicily. Lord Lilford, who records it (Ibis, 1860, p. 252) as common 
and resident in Epirus, did not observe it in the island of Corfu, except during the winter. 
Lindermayer (Vog. Griechenl. p. 56) likewise states that it is common in Greece at all seasons, 
and breeds in the woods of Rumelia. In South-eastern Europe, Southern Russia, and on the 
shores of the Black Sea and Caspian it appears also to be common. Von Nordmann records it 
as appearing in Odessa in September, and passing the winter there, it being generally distri- 
buted in small numbers throughout Southern Russia; and Ménétries met with it numerously at 
Leukoran. Lord Walden has lent me a specimen from Asia Minor, which does not differ from 
our bird, nor does the one collected by Canon Tristram in Palestine, in which country, he writes, 
(Ibis, 1866, p. 284) he met with it ‘‘only in the north, where it seemed very scarce.” It does 
not, so far as I can ascertain, occur in North-eastern Africa, but is certainly found in Algeria and 
Morocco. Wagner, Canon Tristram, Major Loche, and Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., all met with it in 
Algeria, where it would appear to be a resident; and Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake records it from 
Eastern Morocco, and writes (Ibis, 1867, p. 427) that he saw a second species in that country, but 
he has not yet been able to procure specimens. It has been recorded by Mr. Vernon Harcourt 
(P. Z.S. 1851, p. 145) as a straggler to Madeira; and Dr. Carl Bolle states that it has been met 
with in the Canaries; but Mr. F. DuCane Godman never saw it on those islands, and Webb and 
Berthelot state (Orn. Canar. p. 16) that they never observed it there. 
To the eastward the Wren occurs in Persia, whence Mr. Blanford brought home a couple of 
specimens, which I have had for examination, and which do not differ from our European 
bird. Dr. Filippi likewise observed it in Persia; and the Russian collectors have obtained it 
in Central Asia. 
I have been unable to examine a specimen from Japan, where the Wren has been described 
as a distinct species, under the name of Troglodytes fumigatus, Temm. (Man. d’Orn. iii. p. 161, 
1835); but judging from Professor Schlegel’s notes in the ‘ Fauna Japonica,’ p. 69, it can 
scarcely be distinct. He writes that it is merely a trifle darker in colour, and that he could 
not separate it from our European species; but not having been able to examine a specimen, I 
have deemed it best not to include 7. fumigatus in the list of synonyms of the present species. 
The bird referred to in Mr. G. R. Gray’s ‘ Hand-list’ as 7. fumigatus, which is in the British 
Museum, proved on examination to have come from Alaska, and is referable to 7. alascensis, 
Baird. In the Himalayas there is another species (7. nipalensis, Hodgs.) which differs from 
our bird in being darker, and having the back more barred, and the underparts throughout 
