174 WINTER WREN. 



four inches and a half long, and five and three-quarters in extent ; the 

 whole upper parts of a deep brown, transversely crossed with black, ex- 

 cept the head and neck, which is plain ; throat, breast and cheeks light 

 clay-color ; belly and vent mottled with blacky brown and white ; tail 

 long, cuneiform, crossed with black ; legs and feet light clay-colored ; 

 bill black, long, slightly curved, sharp pointed, and resembling that of 

 the genus Certhia considerably ; the whole plumage below the surface 

 is bluish ash ; that on the rump having large round spots of white, not 

 perceivable unless separated with the hand. The female difi'ers very 

 little in plumage from the male. 



Species VI. SYLVIA TBOOLODYTESf* 



WINTER WREN. 



[Plate VIII. Fig. 6.] 



Motacilla troglodytes ? Linn. 



This little stranger visits us from the north in the month of October, 

 sometimes remaining with us all the winter, and is always observed 

 early in spring on his route back to his breeding place. In size, color, 

 song and manners he approaches nearer to the European Wren {M. tro- 

 glodytei) than any other species we have. During his residence here, 

 he frequents the projecting banks of creeks, old roots, decayed logs, 

 small bushes and rushes near watery places ; he even approaches the 

 farm-house, rambles about the wood-pile, creeping among the interstices 

 like a mouse. With tail erect, which is his constant habit, mounted on 

 some projecting point or pinnacle, he sings with great animation. Even 

 in the yards, gardens and outhouses of the city, he appears familiar, and 

 quite at home. In short, he possesses almost all the habits of the 

 European species. He is, however, migratory, which may be owing to 

 the superior coldness of our continent. Never having met with the nest 

 and eggs, I am unable to say how nearly they approximate to those of 

 the former. 



I can find no precise description of this bird, as an American species, 



. in any European publication. Even some of our own naturalists seem 



to have confounded it with another very dififerent bird, the Marsh 



* Wilson appears to be correct in considering this species the same as the 

 European. The following synonymes may he given : Motacilla troglodytes, Linn. 

 Sjjst. Ed. 10, I., 188.— Gmel. Syst. i., 993. — Sylvia troglodytes, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., 

 p. 547.— ie Roitelel, Buff. PI. Enl. 651, fig. 2. 



