MOTACILLIN^, 
157 
brownish-wliite streak over the eye ; the hind parts of both 
surfaces barred with dusky ; two transverse bands of white 
dots on the wings. The female is considerably smaller, and 
less brightly coloured, with more brown on the lower parts. 
The young are destitute of the white spots on the wings. 
Great differences in size and tint are observed. 
Male, 4^, 6^, Female, 4, 
The Wren is generally dispersed, and permanently resident. 
It frequents stone walls, fragments of rocks, thickets of gorse, 
hedge-banks, woods, and gardens. Its food consists of insects, 
small seeds, and soft fruits ; its song, full, rich, and mellow, 
is surprisingly loud ; its flight rapid, even, and short. Although 
not essentially a climber, it clings to perpendicular surfaces 
sidewise, and is often seen on trees. The nest is enormously 
large, roundish, or oblong, composed chiefly of moss, and lined 
with feathers. The eggs are elongated oval, eight-twelfths 
long, six-twelfths in breadth, pure white, with scattered dots 
of light red. 
Wren. Kitty Wren. 
Motacilla Troglodytes, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 337. — Sylvia 
Troglodytes, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. i. 233. — Troglodytes vul- 
garis, Id, Il3id. hi. 160.- — Anorthura Troglodytes, European 
Wren, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 15. 
FAMILY XIX. MOTACILLINiE. MOTACIL- 
LINE BIKES, OR WAGTAILS. 
The family of Motacillinse, which is variously allied to 
the Sylviinse, Saxicolinse, and Alaudinse, is readily dis- 
tinguished by its very elongated tail, and the peculiar 
form of the wings, of which the inner secondaries are 
pointed, and one of them as long as the outer primaries 
when the wing is closed. They are of slender form, with 
the neck rather short, and the head oblong. 
Bill of moderate length, straight, slender, rather broader 
than high at the base, compressed beyond the nostrils ; 
upper mandible with its dorsal line straight and a little 
declinate, the notches slight or obsolete, the tip narrow, 
slightly deflected ; lower mandible with the angle rather 
long and narrow, the dorsal line ascending and nearly 
