128 WINTER WREN. 



second and fourth nearly equal, the hind toe almost equal to the middle one, 

 third and fourth united as far as the second joint; claws long, slender, acute, 

 arcuate, much compressed. 



Plumage soft, tufty, slightly glossed. " No bristly feathers about the beak. 

 Wings shortish, broad, rounded: first quill half the length of the second, 

 which is very little shorter than the third and fourth. Tail of ordinary 

 length, of twelve narrow, lax feathers. 



Bill dark brown above, yellowish-brown beneath. Iris hazel. Feet flesh- 

 colour. The general colour of the upper parts is reddish-brown, darker on 

 the head, brighter on the tail-coverts, indistinctly barred with dark brown; 

 wings and tail undulatingly banded, tips of the larger wing-coverts whitish. 

 A yellowish-grey line from the upper mandible over the eye; cheeks of the 

 same colour, mottled with brownish-red. Under parts brownish-grey; 

 sides barred with brown, as are the under tail-coverts. 



Length 4i- inches, extent of wings 5|-; bill along the ridge \, along the 

 gap | ; tarsus §-, middle toe yg-. 



Adult Female. 



The female scarcely differs from the male in external appearance. 



Young Birds. 



The young are of a lighter brown, more indistinctly barred, but resemble 

 the old birds in the general distribution of their colouring. 



This species differs from the Winter Wren chiefly in having the bill a 

 little stouter, the tail considerably longer, and the under parts less distinctly 

 barred. 



WINTER WREN. 



-{-Troglodytes hyemalis, Vieill. 

 PLATE CXXI.— Male, Female, and Young. 



The extent of the migratory movements of this diminutive bird, is 

 certainly the most remarkable fact connected with its history. At the 

 approach of winter it leaves its northern retreats, perhaps in Labrador or 

 Newfoundland, crosses the inlets of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on tiny con- 

 cave wings, and betakes itself to warmer regions, where it remains until the 



