PERCHING BIRDS 
721. House Wren. Troglodytes aedon. 
aedon . 
Range. — North America east of the Missis- 
sippi, breeding from the Gulf north to Mani- 
toba and Ontario; winters in the southern half 
of the United States. 
This familiar and noisy little Wren is the 
most abundant and widely distributed of the 
Wrens; they are met with on 
the edges of woods, swamps, 
fields, pastures, orchards and 
very frequently build about 
houses, in bird houses or any 
nook that may suit them; they 
fill the cavity of the place they 
may select with twigs, grass, feathers, plant 
down, etc., and lay from five to nine eggs in a 
set and frequently three sets a year. The eggs 
are pinkish white, very profusely and minutely 
dotted with pale reddish brown so as to make 
the egg appear to be a nearly uniform salmon 
color and with a wreath of darker spots about 
the large end. Size .65 x .52. Data. — Gretna, 
N. Y., May 29, 1896. Nest three feet from the ground in cavity of an apple tree; 
made of twigs and grass, and lined with hair and feathers. 
Pinkish white 
House Wren 
721a. Western House Wren. Troglodytes aedon parltmani. 
Range. — United States, from the Mississippi Valley to eastern California. 
This variety is grayer above and below than the eastern form, but its habits" 
and eggs do not differ in any respect. 
722. Winter Wren. N annus hiemalis hiemalis. 
Range. — Eastern North America, breeding from northern United States north- 
ward, and south in the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters in the United 
States. 
These are the smallest of the Wrens, being but four inches in 
length; they have a very short tail which, like those of the 
others, is carried erect over the back during excitement or 
anger. They are very sly birds and creep about through stone 
walls and under brush like so many mice; they have a sweet 
song but not as loud as that of the House Wren. Their nests 
are placed in crevices of stumps, walls, old buildings or in brush 
'neaps, oeing made of twigs and leaves, lined with feathers. Their eggs, which 
are laid during May or June, are pure white, finely and sparingly dotted with 
reddish brown; size .60 x .48. 
White 
427 
