MARSH WREN. 137 



Troglodytes palttstris, Marsh Wren, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 319. 

 Marsh Wren, Troglodytes palustris, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 500; vol. v. p. 467. 



Adult Male. . 



Bill longish, slightly arched, slender, acute, subtrigonal at the base, com- 

 pressed towards the tip; upper mandible with the ridge obtuse, the sides 

 convex towards the end, concave at the base, the edges acute and overlap- 

 ping; under mandible with the sides and back convex. Nostrils oblong, 

 direct, basal, with a cartilaginous lid above, open and bare. Head ovate, 

 eyes rather large, neck of ordinary length, body short and full. Legs of 

 ordinary length; tarsus longer than the middle toe, compressed, covered 

 anteriorly with six scutella, posteriorly with a long plate, forming an acute 

 edge; toes scutellate above, the second and fourth nearly equal, the hind toe 

 almost equal to the middle one, the third and fourth united as far as the 

 second joint; claws rather long, slender, acute, arched, much compressed. 



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

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

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

 much rounded, of twelve rounded feathers. 



Bill dark brown above, yellow beneath. Iris hazel. Feet light brown. 

 The general colour of the upper parts is dark brown, the sides of the head 

 deeper, the fore part of the back brownish-black, longitudinally streaked 

 with white, the quills externally margined with lighter brown, the tail 

 barred with dark brown. A white line over the eye, extending down the 

 neck; the sides of the latter mottled with light brown and grey; the under 

 parts of a silvery greyish-white; the abdominal feathers and under tail- 

 coverts tipped with brown. 



Length 5 inches, extent of wings 6i; bill along the ridge nearly T 7 2, along 

 the gap f ; tarsus f, middle toe nearly f . 



Adult Female. 



The female differs very little in external appearance from the male. The 

 black of the back is less deep, and the white lines are less conspicuous; the 

 under parts, also, are of a duller white. 



