WKENS. 



69 



tarsus scutellate ; " hind toe considerably longer than the 

 middle one " ; primaries nine. The Wagtails are virtually 

 terrestrial Warblers closely allied to the Sduri. 



It may be observed that our land-birds, as at present 

 arranged, form a series which may be artificially classified by 

 food. Thus the higher Oscines are chiefly insectivorous, 

 the Shrikes partly insectivorous but otherwise carnivorous, 

 while the 



quent families are 

 chiefly granivo- 

 rous. The Clama- 

 tores and Pica- 

 rice, the Raptores, 

 and the ColumboB, 

 form a very simi- 

 lar sequence, the 

 Pigeons being, so 

 to speak, vegetari- 

 ans. 



Fig. 3. Winter Wren.* 



I. TROGLODYTES. 



A. HiEMALis. 37 Winter Wren. Wood Wren. Quite 

 common in Massachusetts, during the migrations, in April 

 and October.! 



cause the Winter Wrens inhabit woods, 

 almost exclusively, whereas our other 

 Wrens do not. The name is therefore 

 extremely appropriate. For the Oreat 

 Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludoviei- 

 anus), see a note at the end of this hio- 

 graphy. 



t The Winter Wren breeds abun- 

 dantly throughout northern New Eng- 

 land, commonly on Mount Graylock, 

 and sparingly and locally in the north- 

 em portions of Worcester County, Mas- 

 sachusetts. Elsewhere it occurs only 

 during the migrations, when it is never 

 very numerous, and in winter, when in 

 Massachusetts, at least, it is invariably 

 rare. — W. B. 



* The specimen, from which the fig- 

 ure of the Winter Wren was drawn (p. 

 69), had an unusually short tail, in con- 

 sequence of which the figure must be 

 considered inaccurate in regard to that 

 feature. [From Appendix of first edi- 

 tion, p. 443.] 



^ This species has been placed by 

 Baird in this genus (subgenus Anorthu- 

 ra), by other authors in the genus ^nor- 

 thura, with the specific name hyemalis 

 or troglodytes. Professor Baird has 

 recently called it a variety of the Eu- 

 ropean T. parvulus. I have here called 

 it the Wood Wren, because Audubon's 

 so-called " Wood Wren " (T. america- 

 nus) is now known to be the same as 

 the House Wren (T. aedon), and be- 



