104 TEO&LODTTID^. 



In Guatemala we never found it much below 6500 feet, in the Volcan de Fuego, 

 where its chief resort is the deep ravines of the mountain and the belt of forest up to 

 between 10,000 and 11,000 feet. It is also not unfrequently met with in the lower 

 part of the tract of pine trees which clothe the upper 3000 feet of the cone. These 

 Wrens are usually seen in small flocks of five or six individuals, which move restlessly 

 amongst grass and shrubs near the ground. They keep carefully out of sight, uttering 

 a rather clear Wren-like call-note. 



CISTOTHOKUS. 



Cistothorus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. i. p. 77 (1850). (Type Troglodytes stellaris, Naum.) 



This little genus is structurally not far removed from Troglodytes, having a similar 

 nostril with a covering membrane. Its tail is very rounded, the bill short and rather 

 strongly curved. In coloration it is somewhat peculiar, the dorsal feathers in all the 

 species, and those of the head also in some, being conspicuously striated longitudinally. 

 Its habits, too, are also peculiar, as it seems to be found exclusively in marshy spotsj 

 frequenting the long rank grass and reeds which usually grow in such places. 



In addition to Cistothorus Dr. Cabanis proposed a second generic name, Telmatodytes, 

 for C. palustris ; but the difierences between the two are too slight to be admissible. 



The number of species in the genus is not well ascertained, owing to the difficulty of 

 determining the limits of some of them. Seven or eight names have been suggested at 

 various times, which are perhaps referable to four or five species. Of these, two come 

 within our limits, Cistothorus palustris, a northern bird which finds its way into Southern 

 Mexico, and C. elegans of Mexico and Central America. The last named bird has a 

 close ally in North America, and does not seem to be separable from a species of wide 

 range in the southern continent to which the name C. polyglottus, Vieill., has been 

 applied. 



1. Cistothorus palustris. 



CertUa palustris, Wils. Am. Orn. ii. p. 58, t. 12. f. 4\ 



Troglodytes palustris, Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 290". 



Cistothorus palustris, Scl. P.Z.S. 1864, p. 172'; Baird, Rev. Am. B. i. p. 147*; Baird, Brew. & 



Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 161 = ; Coues, B. of N.W. p. 34» ; B. Col. Vail. i. p. 178'. 

 Cistothorus palustris, yw. paludicola, Baird, Rev. Am. B. 1. p. 148^; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc N. H 



ii. p. 268'. 



Supra fulvesoenti-bninneus, pUei lateribu8 et dorso nigris, hoc albido longitudinaUter striolato; alis efc cauda 

 lu^o vanegatis; supercOiis elongatis albis; genis, bypocbondriis et crisso fulvis ; corpore subtus reUquo 

 albido; rostn maxiUa fusca, mandibula et pedibus paUide corylinis. Long, tota 4, alffi 2-0, caud* 1-6, 

 rostri a nctu 0-65, tarsi 0-8. (Descr. exempl. ex Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Eab. N. Amebica, throughout the temperate portions ^ e 7._Mexico, Mazatlan (Gray 

 son^), Tomatlan {SalU^), near the city of Mexico {WhUe^). 



