WINTER WKEN. 231 



Common summer resident. In this vicinity it arrives about the.mid- 

 dle of April and remains until October. Less common, or rare and mi- 

 grant in South-western Ohio and in some isolated localities. When on 

 its migrations it is found in woods and on the banks of streams. Some- 

 times a pair may be f )und in woodland during the breeding season, but 

 this is rare. Most of them find a convenient building spot in the vicinity 

 of man's habitation, often under the same roof. Their noisy, active, in- 

 quisitive and combative disposition renders them among the best known 

 of our semi domesticated biids. His song is difficult to describe, yet 

 once heard is not easily forgotten. It consists of a sharp chatter of waver- 

 ing note?, 80 quickly uttered as almost to seem a prolonged and highly 

 modulated, sometimes squeaky, trill, now soft and now piercing, it seem 

 to change with every position of the bird. He often executes a pleujing 

 fantasia .on the wing. 



The nest is built in ull sorts of odd places; a half peck measure, an 

 old seive, old hat, or the tattered habiliments of a scare-crow, all are accep- 

 table to them, as well as boxes, holes in posts, chinks and crevices under 

 rafters and cornices of buildings, and hollow branches of apple trees. 



Right manfully does he resent intrusion on his premises, and assails 

 with impetuous vim beast or bird who ventures near. Pussy herself is 

 put upon the defense while she is meditating an attack, and when she 

 raises her paw to strike, is forced to shut her eyes. 



The nest is composed of leaves, cotton, feathers, hair and other stuff. 

 The eggs are from seven to nine, nearly spherical, and so thickly covered 

 with small spots of reddish brown as nearly to conceal the white ground. 

 They measure about .62 by .55. The House Wren is very prolific usually 

 raising three broods in a season. 



Gknus ANOETHUEA. Eennie. 



Bill shorter than the head, slender, nearly straight, conical. Wings much longer than 

 the very short tail. Tarsus reaching to end of tail. 



Anorthura troglodytes (L.) Cs. 



VAR. HYBMALIS (Wils.) Cs. 

 , "Winter "Wren. 



Troglodytes europceus, Kietland, Ohio Geolog. Sury., 18.38, 163. 



Troglodytes %emoKs, -Eead, Proc. Philad. Acad. Nat.^Sci., vi, 1853, 395. — Wheaton, Ohio 



Agrio. Kep. for 1860, 36.5 ; Eeprint, 1861, 7. 

 Anorthura troglodytes var. hyemalis, Wheaton, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Eep. for 



1874, 563; Eeprint, 1875, 3.— Langdon, Cat. Birds of Cin. 1877, 4. 

 Troglodytes parvulus var. hyemalis, Langdon, Eevised List, Jonrn. Cin. Soc. Nat.-.fli8t., i 



1879, 170 ; Eeprint, 4. 



