184 
TROGLODYTES (EDON. 
several of the secondaries ; tail, pretty long*, forked, 
dusky, exterior vanes broadly edged with yellow olive ; 
legs, brown, feet and claws, yellow ; bill, black, slender, 
straight, evidently of the muscicapa form, the upper 
mandible being notched at the point, and furnished at 
the base with bristles, that reach half way to its point ; 
but what seems singular and peculiar to this little bird, 
the nostril on each side is covered by a single feather, 
that much resembles the antennae of some butterflies, 
and is half the length of the bill. Buffon has taken 
notice of the same in the European. Inside of the 
mouth, a reddish orange ; claws, extremely sharp, the 
hind one the longest. In the female, the tints and 
markings are nearly the same, only the crown or crest 
is pale yellow. These birds are numerous in Pennsyl- 
vania, in the month of October, frequenting bushes that 
overhang streams of water, alders, briers, and particu- 
larly apple trees, where they are eminently useful in 
destroying great numbers of insects, and are at that 
season extremely fat. 
GENUS XXV. — TROGLODYTES, Vieill. 
SUBGENUS I TROGLODYTES , VIEILL. 
142 . TROGLODYTES (EDON, VIEILL. 
SYLYIA DOMESTICA , "WILSON. HOUSE WREN. 
WILSON, PLATE Till. FIG. III. 
This well known and familiar bird arrives in Penn- 
sylvania about the middle of April ; and, about the 8th 
or 10th of May, begins to build its nest, sometimes in 
the wooden cornishing under the eaves, or in a hollow 
cherry tree ; but most commonly in small boxes, fixed 
on the top of a pole, in or near the garden, to which he 
is extremely partial, for the great number of caterpillars 
and other larva* with which it constantly supplies him. 
If all these conveniences are wanting, he will even put 
