272 



was most common, apparently were typical beivicJcii. It disappeared in 

 the early spring, but the people of town said it would come again and be 

 the House Wren of the summer. As the Texas form is known to be 

 abundant only a few miles southward, it seems probable that the winter 

 birds are typical beivicJcii and the summer birds bairdi. A change of res- 

 idence on the part of the author prevented the exact determination of 

 the matter. At Oaddo, neither Troglodytes aedon nor its western sub- 

 species has been found. Mr. Lloyd states that Baird's Wren raises two 

 broods in western Texas, where it is an abundant resident. 



721. Troglodytes aedon Vieill. [63.] House Wren. 



The House Wren is a bird of the Eastern States, ranging west to the 

 Mississippi Valley. In looking over the notes contributed on this 

 species it has been found necessary to cub out 35 per cent, as being of 

 uncertain identity. The House Wren is so commonly confounded 

 with the Winter Wren that the records of its movements are per- 

 plexing and not very reliable. Information is needed concerning the 

 northern limit of its winter range in the Southern States west of 

 the Mississippi Eiver. East of the Mississippi it is reported as regu- 

 larly resident up to latitude 35°, and occasionally still farther north in 

 heavy bottom lands. In migration, in the spring of 1884, it reached 

 latitude 37° in Missouri the last week in March ; latitude 38° 40' in 

 Missouri April 19 ; latitude 39° 19' in Illinois April 25; and latitude 

 39° 12' in Kansas April 24. After this the advance seems to have been 

 very rapid, for the species arrived at latitude 46° 33' in Minnesota May 

 3, and at Oak Point, Manitoba (latitude 50° 30'), near the limit of its 

 northward journey, May 17. There is quite a strong intimation that the 

 migration through eastern Illinois and Wisconsin took place from a 

 week to ten days earlier than the movement in corresponding latitudes 

 west of the Mississippi, but in the present uncertainty as to which 

 species of Wren was actually seen no positive statement can be made. 



In the fall of 1884 the bulk of House Wrens left Des Moines, Iowa, 

 August 28, and none were seen there after that date. At Shawnee- 

 town, 111., a single bird was reported as having been seen all winter. 



In the spring of 1885 the records of the House Wren and the Winter 

 Wren in migration were hopelessly mixed. The two Wrens appear to 

 have migrated more nearly at the same time than usual, thus increasing 

 the confusion of the records. All that can be safely said of the House 

 Wren is that it was one month (from April 17 to May 17) in passing 

 from Saint Louis, Mo. (latitude 38° 40'), to Oak Point Manitoba (lati- 

 tude 50° 30'). The A. O. U. Checklist gives the habitat of the typ- 

 ical House Wren as " Eastern United States and Southern Canada, 

 west to Indiana and Louisiana."' The subspecies pdrJcmatiii is given as 

 ranging in " Western North America, from Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, 

 and Manitoba westward ; north to Great Slave Lake, south to Jalapa, 

 Mexico, and Lower California." According to these habitats, both of 

 the localities mentioned, Saint Louis and Oak Point, belong to the 



