16 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
HOUSE-WREN 
Troglodytes furvus 
Warm brown; tail-feathers and outer webs of wing-feathers pen- 
cilled with dark wavy lines; beneath pale brown; length 4.8 inches. 
THE common Argentine Wren is to all English 
residents the ‘‘ House-Wren,” and is considered to 
be identical with the species familiar to them in 
their own country. It is a sprightly little bird, of a 
uniform brown colour and a cheerful melodious 
voice; a tireless hunter after small spiders and 
caterpillars in hedges, gardens, and outhouses, where 
it explores every dark hole and cranny, hopping 
briskly about with tail erect, and dropping frequent 
little curtsies ; always prompt to scold an intruder 
with great emphasis; a great hater of cats. 
It was my belief at one time that the Wren was 
one of the little birds a cat could never catch; but 
later on I discovered that this was a mistake. At my 
home on the pampas we once had a large yellow tom- 
cat exceedingly dexterous in catching small birds ; 
he did not, however, eat them himself, but used to 
bring them into the house for the other cats. Two 
or three times a day he would appear with a bird, 
which he would drop at the door, then utter a loud 
mew very well understood by the other cats, for they 
would all fly to the spot in great haste, and the first 
to arrive would get the bird. At one time I noticed 
that he brought in a Wren almost every day, and, 
