320 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



Mr. Drummond killed specimens of this Wren on the eastern declivity of the 

 Rocky Mountains, in the fifty-fifth parallel. It did not come under the notice 

 of the other branches of the Expedition. — R. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a male, killed near the southern sources of the Elk River, lat. 55°. 



Colour. — Top of the head, a triangular space between the shoulders, and the tertiaries, dark 

 umber, the latter having pale triangular marginal spots, and the interscapulars being striped 

 in the centres with white : rest of the dorsal plumage, the lesser wing coverts, and middle tail 

 feathers yellowish-brown*, with ten or twelve obscure bars on the latter : lateral tail feathers 

 blackish-brown, edged all round, and irregularly barred with yellowish-brown. Lores, line 

 from the eye to the sides of the nape, and the under plumage, whitish, the flanks, vent, and 

 thighs tinged with brown. Bill above dark umber; under mandible and legs yellowish- 

 brown. — R. 



Form aberrant from the typical short-tailed Wrens, — since the tail and bill are more 

 lengthened ; but the latter may be described as entire, as the notch is so slight as to be of 

 no use to the bird, and can hardly be perceived through a lens. The feet are larger in all 

 respects than those of T. cedon, and the hind claw is considerably more lengthened and 

 slender, even than that of the Great Carolina Wren, which, although thicker and more curved, 

 is shorter. The aquatic habits of this species fully explains the reason of its peculiar 

 organization. The tails of all these Wrens are rounded. — Sw. 



Dimensions. 



Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. 



Length, total . . .50 Length of bill above . .0 7 Length of middle toe . 6£ 



„ of tail . 1 10 ., of bill to rictus .08 „ of its nail . . 2^ 



„ of wing . .21 ,, of tarsus . .09 ,, of hind toe . .0 3£ 



,, of its nail . . 3J 



* The white specks which separate the colours of the base and tip of the rump feathers in T. tedon and hyemalis 

 do not exist in this species. 



