WRENS 



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(721) Troglodytes aedon aedon 



(Vicill.) (Gr., a cave dweller; a songstress). 

 HOUSE WREN. Plumage as 

 shown; upper parts cinnamon-brown; 

 wings and tail barred with blackish; 

 rump with concealed ^Yhitish spots; 

 below dull whitish, more or less barred 

 on the flanks with blackish; no super- 

 ciliary stripe as always shown by the 

 last species. L., 4.75; W., 2.00; T., 

 1.75; B., .50. Nest — Of grass and 

 weeds; in hollow trees, stumps, bird 

 boxes or crevices about buildings; 

 live to seven white eggs, minutely 

 doited all over with reddish-brown, 

 giving the egg a pinkish appearance. 

 Range — Breeds from N. B., Ont., 

 Mich, and Wis. south to Va. and Ky. 

 Winters in the Gulf States and Mexico. 

 (721a). T. a pdrkmani Audubon. 

 WESTERN HOUSE WREN. 

 Western U. S. east Mo. and Tex. 



similar-sized House Wren, but needlessly for the darker back, 

 white stripe over the eye and white on the outer taU feathers 

 should easily identify it in any situation. They are rather 

 more sedate in their actions than the last species, but are 

 always investigating crevices about stumps, tree trunks or 

 npoks about buildings clearing them of vermin. They often 

 remind one of mice as they creep nimbly through piles of 

 brush or through stone walls, every now and then stopping to 

 look at you with tail perked over their back and ofttimes 

 wagged as though in salutation. 



Their song is sweet and louder and clearer than that of the 

 House Wren but is not nearly as varied. 



HOUSE WRENS are almost inseparably connected with 

 habitations. Whenever or wherever one is seen you can be 

 quite certain that some one is li\dng within a quarter of a mile 

 or so from there. In summer they take up their abodes in 

 hollow trees anywhere in the neighborhood or in bird boxes 

 that are erected for them. They become greatly attached to 



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