WRENS. 
The wrens (7rogloditide) belong to one of the high- 
est families of the oscines. They have many of the 
characteristics of the thrushes, with which some of them 
were formerly classified, having like them ten primaries, 
and being endowed with much of the vocal power for 
which the thrushes are so justly celebrated. In structure 
they differ from the latter by having scutellate tarsi 
and a basal cohesion of toes. Their food is similar to 
that of the creepers and nuthatches, with which they 
are often found in company. Some of them also, like 
the nuthatches, build in knot-holes and crevices, placing 
the nest out of sight. 
No other family except the sylvicolide have such 
diverse habitat, some of the genera making their summer 
haunts in marshes, some in lawns and orchards, and 
others in deep woods. 
The marsh wrens, among reeds and rushes along the 
lakes and river shores, with their gurgling melodies, 
break the monody of the rippling waters, and add a 
charm to the often otherwise lonely scene; the friendly, 
sociable little house wrens sing in fields and gardens, 
in orchards and along dusty highways; while the 
winter wrens are the sylvan fairies of the woods which 
