BIRDS OF NEW YORK 485 



Nannus hiemalis hiemalis (Vieillot) 

 Winter Wren 



Plate 102 



Troglodytes hiemalis Vieillot. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 1819. 34:514 

 Troglodytes hyemalis DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 57, fig. 96 

 Nannus hiemalis hiemalis A. 0. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 341. 

 No. 722 



nannus, Gr., v(ivvoc, a dwarf; hiemalis, Lat., of winter 



Description. Upper parts dark cinnamon brown; wings and tail dis- 

 tinctly barred with blackish; under parts pale cinnamon brown; breast, 

 belly and sides finely barred with black. The more distinct barring, especially 

 on the under parts, of this Winter wren, as well as the short tail which is 

 usually held higher than that of the House wren, will distinguish it. Fur- 

 thermore, in the greater part of New York it is a common wren only in 

 the early spring and winter months. 



Length 4-4.2 inches; extent 6.15; wing 1.9; tail 1.25; bill .35; tarsus .73. 



Distribution. This species breeds in the boreal zone of eastern America, 

 from central Alberta, northern Quebec and Newfoundland to central 

 Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the mountainous portions of New 

 York and Massachusetts, and along the AUeghanies to North Carolina. 

 Winters from Michigan and Massachusetts to Texas and northern Florida. 

 In New York this little wren is a summer resident of the Catskills and 

 Adirondacks and of various localities of central and western New York, 

 see map page 29, volume i, but is most of all a common transient visitant 

 in all the more inhabited portions of the State, arriving commonly from 

 the 25th of March to the 5th of April and passing northward from the 

 25th of April to the loth of May, in western New York frequently lingering 

 to the 20th. In the fall it is seen mostly during October and early Novem- 

 ber. In the Adirondacks and higher Catskills it is an abundant summer 

 resident, its tinkling, rippling melody being heard throughout the spruce 

 and balsam forests, a different songster of this species usually being heard 

 at least every five minutes as one journeys along the woodland trails 

 throughout the North Woods. 



