GREAT CAROLINA WREN. 
211 
appearance of these birds, and the practice of former ornitho- 
logists, removed them to the genus Certhia , from that of 
Motacilla , where they have hitherto been placed. # 
This bird is frequently seen, early in May, along the shores 
of the Delaware, and other streams that fall into it on both 
sides, thirty t)r forty miles below Philadelphia ; but is rather 
rare in Pennsylvania. This circumstance is a little extraordi- 
nary ; since, from its size and stout ma&e, it would seem more 
capable of braving the rigours of a northern climate than any 
of the others. It can, however, scarcely be called migratory. 
In the depth of winter I found it numerous in Virginia, along 
the shores and banks of the James River, and its tributary 
streams, and thence as far south as Savannah. I also observed 
it on the banks of the Ogechee. It seemed to be particularly 
attached to the borders of cypress swamps, deep hollows, 
among piles of old decaying timber, and by rivers and small 
creeks. It has all the restless, jerking manners of the Wrens, 
skipping about with great nimbleness, hopping into caves, 
and disappearing into holes and crevices, like a rat, for several 
minutes, and then reappearing in another quarter. It occa- 
sionally utters a loud, strong, and singular twitter, resembling 
* Of this bird, and some others, Vieillot formed his genus Tryothorus, 
containing the larger Wrens, with long, and somewhat curved bills, and pos- 
sessing, if possible, more of the habits of the Creepers. This has, with almost 
universal consent, been laid aside even as a sub-genus, and they are all included 
in Troglodytes. Read the descriptions of our author, or of Audubon, and the 
habits of the Wren will be at once perceived. “ Its tail,” says the latter ornitho- 
logist, “ is almost constantly erect ; and before it starts to make the least flight, 
it uses a quick motion, which brings its body almost in contact with the object 
on which it stands. The quickness of the motions of this little bird is fully 
equal to that of a mouse : it appears, and is out of sight in a moment ; peeps 
into a crevice, passes rapidly through it, and shews itself at a different place 
the next instant. These Wrens often sing from the roof of an abandoned 
flat-boat. When the song is finished, they creep from one board to another, 
thrust themselves through an auger hole, entering the boat’s side at one place, 
and peeping out at another.” In them we have exactly portrayed the manners 
of our British Wren, when engaged about a heap of rubish, old stones, or 
barrels in a farm yard — Ed. 
