CRITICAL EEMAEKS ABOUT THE HOUSE WREN 173 



I derive ray name of tbe typical House Wieu, 2\ domesiicHS, as Wilson did 

 his Sylina domestica, from the Motacilla domestica o£ Baitrani, whicb antedates 

 Vieillot's name by many years. The current orthography of the latter 

 (a'don) is clearly wrong, since it is fro i ai^Jui' (th. aeiSa), -whence properly 

 aedon. Nor has the varietal designation of the Western House Wren escaped 

 maltreatment, being spelled four different ways. The bird having been 

 dedicated to Dr. George Parliman (not Parkmanu) of Boston, its name should 

 be written parkmani. The' various combinations of these two words in their 

 several shapes result in a curiously involved set of synonyms, which show 

 that the care to be expected from an author in the use of technical terms in 

 science is not always exercised. I am free to speak in the matter, having 

 been myself quite as gnilty as the rest. 



Respecting the Telatlonships of Audubon's " Wood Wren ", T. amerioanus, 

 to the common House Wren, there seems to be no longer a doubt that the 

 two are identical. The authors of the " History of North American Birds ", 

 while agreeing in this view, diifer in their explanation of the ascribed char- 

 acters of the " Wood Wren ". At page 149 of the Work just mentioned, we 

 read : — " There can scarcely be any doubt that tbe T. amerioanus of Audubon 

 is nothing more thau this species [_T. aedon'] in dark, accidentally soiled 

 plumage (from charcoal of burnt trees, etc.)." At pages 151 and 152 of the same 

 work, the followingstatenient occurs ; — " Under the name of Troglodytes amen- 

 canus, or Wood Wren, Mr. Audubon figured and described as a distinct 

 species what is probably only a somewhat larger and darker form of the 

 present species [T. aedon], hardly distinct enough to be treated even as a 

 race." A specimen which came to me as a " Wood Wren", under color of 

 Andubon's personal identification, and which I retain iu my cabinet, is noth- 

 ing but a House Wren. 



Before proceeding to speak of Parkman's Wren, I wish to correct an im- 

 portant error into which Dr. Brewer has fallen respBOting the distribution 

 of the common House Wren, which, he states (op. cit. p. 150), "is not ob- 

 served iu any portion of the Uuited States after the first of November ". 

 But Andnbou found his "Wood Wren" in South Carolina in winter; the 

 House Wren is marked "probably resident" in my List of the Birds' of 

 South Carolina ; and Mr. Allen found it on i of the abundant winter birds of 

 Florida, " occurring everywhere ". The fact is that the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States are exactly the winter home of the House Wren; there may be 

 some extralimital records, indeed, but I am afraid to quote any of the sup- 

 posed references, as I have not satisfied myself that the bird ever winters 

 anywhere but in the region where Dr. Brewer states it is never seen in 

 winter. The same writer says further: — "This species does not appear to 

 be found beyond the southwestern portion of Maine and the soutljern por- 

 tions of New Hampshire and Veniiout." I understand that confirmation of 

 its alleged extension to Nova Scotia would be desirable, but of its appearance 

 in Canada there is no reasonable doubt. In the interior, it also extends to 

 the British Possessions. I have myse'f found it breeding abundantly on 

 the Red River of the North, latitude 49° N. 



IN comparing the habits of Parkuiaii's Wren with those of 

 its eastern relative, we must not regard the matter from the 

 standpoint usually. assume<l. Being familiar with the ways of 



