188 
TROGLODYTES EUROP^SUS. 
combination practicable ; but sucli a congregation of 
wrens, about one garden, is a phenomenon not to be 
expected but from a total change in the very nature and 
disposition of the species. 
Though Europeans are not ignorant of the existence 
of this bird, they have considered it, as usual, merely as 
a slight variation from the original stock, ( m . troglo- 
dytes ,) their own wren ; in which they are, as usual, 
mistaken ; the length and bent form of the bill, its notes, 
migratory habits, long tail, and red eggs, are sufficient 
specific differences. 
The house wren inhabits the whole of the United 
States, in all of which it is migratory. It leaves Penn- 
sylvania in September ; I have sometimes, though 
rarely, seen it in the beginning of October. It is four 
inches and a half long, and five and three quarters in 
extent, the whole upper parts of a deep brown, trans- 
versely crossed with black, except the head and neck, 
which is plain ; throat, breast, and cheeks, light clay 
colour ; belly and vent, mottled with black, brown, and 
white ; tail, long, cuneiform, crossed with black ; legs 
and feet, light clay colour; bill, black, long, slightly 
curved, sharp pointed, and resembling that of the genus 
certhia , considerably; the whole plumage below the 
surface is bluish ash ; that on the rump having large 
round spots of white, not perceivable unless separated 
with the hand. The female differs very little in plumage 
from the male. 
143 . TROGLODYTES EUROP^EUS, LEACH. SYLVIA TROGLODYTES . 
WINTER WREN. 
WILSON, PLATE VIII. FIG. VI. — EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
This little stranger visits us from the north in the 
month of October, sometimes remaining with us all 
the winter, and is always observed, early in spring, on his 
route back to his breeding place. In size, colour, song, 
and manners, he approaches nearer to the European 
wren (m. troglodytes') than any other species we have. 
