BIRDS — LIOTEICHIDAE — THKIOTHOEUS LUDOVICIANUS. 361 



THKIOTHORUS LUDOVICIANUS, B o n a p . 



Great Carolina Wren. 



Mutncilla troglodytes, Var. y, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 994. 

 Sylvia ludovicidna, Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 548, No. 150. 

 Troglodytes ludovicianus, Licht. Verz. Doubl. 1823, 35. — Bon. Obs. Wilson, 1824, No. 65.— Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 



1831, 399 : V, 1839, 466 ; pi. 78.— Ib. Syn. 1839, 74.— Ib. Birds Amer. II, 1841, 116 ; pi. 



117. 

 Thryothonis Jii(Jot)icia»us, Bonap. List, 1838. — Ib. Consp. 1850, 220. — Ib. Comptes Rendus, XXVIII, 1854, 57 : Notes 



Delattre, 41. 

 Troglodytes arimdinactus, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 55 ; pi. cviii. The habits as detailed are those of T. 



palustris. Description certainly refers to the present species. 

 Thryothonis arundinaceus, Lsssohf, Rev. Zool. 1840, 263, (but not his synonymes.) 

 Certhia caroliniana, Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 61 ; pi. xii, f. 5. 

 Thryothorus liltoralis, Vieillot, Pfouv. Diet. XXXIV, 1819, 56. 

 Thryothorus louisianae, Lesson, Rev. Zool. 1840, 262. 



Sp. Ch — Exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head. Above reddish brown, most vivid on the rump. A whitish streak 

 over the eye, bordered above with dark brown. Throat whitish ; rest of under parts pale yellow rusty, darkest towards the 

 under tail coverts, which are conspicuously barred with black. Exposed surface of the wings and tail (including the upper 

 coverts) barred throughout with brown, the outer edges of tail feathers and quills showing series of alternating whitish and 

 dusky spots. Legs flesh colored. Length, 6 inches ; wing, 2.60 ; tail, 2.45. 



Hob. — Eastern United States to the Missouri ; north to Pennsylvania. In Texas to upper Rio Grande. 



The bill, measured to the forehead, is about as long as the head ; the culmen moderately 

 curved ; the inferior outline nearly straight. The wings are short, reaching over the posterior 

 third of the tail, but not to the ends of the coverts. The under parts are entirely destitute of 

 any trace of bars except on the tail coverts. The brown of the back assumes rather a grayish 

 shade on the crown. As usual there is a good deal of concealed white on the rump. The tail 

 feathers are all similar in color and uniform close barring, the exterior only having rather more 

 dusky and whitish. The middle and secondary coverts have each a light spot at the end, said 

 to be wanting in the female. The shafts of the interscapular feathers are paler than the 

 remaining portion. The white streak over the eye is very conspicuous, a,nd extends down the 

 side of the neck ; beneath this streak and behind the eye is a patch like the back ; the rest of the 

 side of the head is grayish white, streaked with dusky. 



Specimens vary considerably in the intensity of color, the under parts being sometimes but 

 little tinged with the pale rusty, except on the sides and towards the tail. The under tail 

 coverts are frec[uently almost pure white, conspicuously barred with black ; generally, however, 

 they have a rusty tinge. In one specimen (7124) the under coverts are without any bars. 



The only specimen I have seen from regions west of the Missouri is that collected at Fort 

 Thorn by Dr. Henry, 



46 b 



