140 



EEVIEW OP AMEEICAN BIRDS. 



[part I. 



from riorida). No. 26,368, however, probably killed in spring, has 

 the breast gray, and, as in some specimens of eedon, the feathers 

 faintly spotted with brownish. 



From the paler shade of the upper parts, and possibly a rather 

 smaller size, I am inclined to consider these Mexican specimens as 

 residents, and not migrants from the north. 



A specimen (7,139) collected south of the Rio Grande, by Lt. 

 Couch, agrees better with the Mexican variety, than with T. park- 

 manni, to which I had referred it. 



(7,139.) Eyes dark-brown. (30,872.) Iris brown 



Troglodytes parkmanni. 



Troglodytes parkmanni, Add. Om. Biog. V, 1839, 310. — Ib. Synopsis, 

 1839, 76.— Ie. Birds Amer. II, 1841, 133, pi. 122.— Baird, Birds' 

 N. Am. 1S58, 367.— Cooper & Sdcklet, P. R. E. Rep. XII, ii, 1860, 

 191 (nest).— ScLATEK, Catal. 1861, 23, no. 146. 



Troglodytes sylvestris, Gambel, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ill, 1846, 113 (California, 

 quotes erroneously AuD. T. americanus). 



Bab. Western and Middle provinces of United States- 



Although the differences betvireen the eastern and western House 

 Wrens, as stated in the "Birds N. Am.," are not very appreciable- 

 yet a comparison of an extensive series shows that they can hardly 

 be considered as identical. The general color above is paler and 

 grayer, and there is little or none of the rufous of the lower back 

 and rump. The bars on the upper surface are rather more distinct. 

 The under parts are more alike, as while eedon sometimes has flanks 

 and crissum strongly tinged with rufous, other specimens are as pale 

 as in T. parkmanni. 



Perhaps the most appreciable differences between the two species 

 are to be found in the size and proportions of wing and tail. The 

 wing in parkmanni is quite decidedly longer than in xdon, measur- 

 ing, in males, 2.12 to 2.15, instead of 2.00 to 2.05. This is due not 

 so much to a larger size as to a greater development of the primaries. 

 The first quill is equal to or barely more than half the second in 



