HOUSE WREN. 
39 
circumstances when they wish to build, even turning the habitations of man to account. But 
what particularly distinguishes these birds from many others is their loud and cheery song; 
perched on some slightly elevated position they will pour forth such clear and thrilling 
lays that the most careless observer will pause to listen and admire their power. There are no 
birds which excel them in the frequency in which this melody is given; from early morning 
until late at night they may be heard singing. Seasons as well as time are utterly disregarded 
by them, for their harmonious strains are given with as much earnestness in December as 
during the breeding time. The remembrance of the melodies ever brings to my mind pleasant 
visions of dark green foliage and the rustling palm leaves which grow so luxuriantly in this 
land; for we were always greeted by these birds whenever we pitched our tents by the side of 
a hummock or thicket, and I think no one, who has heard them as often as I have, will hesitate 
to place the Great Carolina Wren among the finest song birds of Florida. 
TROGLODYTES ABDON. 
House Wren. 
Troglodytes aedon Vieillot, Orn. Am. Sept, ii, 1807, 32. 
Troglodytes Americanus Audubon, Orn. Biog. ii, 1834, 452. 
Troglodytes ParJcmanii Audubon, Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 310. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, not slender. Size, quite small. Bill, tapering, slightly curved at the end, not notched, shorter 
than the head. Sternum not stoutly built; proportionately narrower than in the preceding, but with the keel higher. 
Tongue, thin, horny and acuminate with the end, in adult specimens, broken into irregular points or coarse cilia, in 
young birds, however, it is more regular in form, there being four points; two long ones in the middle and two 
shorter ones at each side, which commence farther down on the tongue than the others and terminate at their base, 
forming a rounded or graduated end. 
Color. Adult. Above, dark reddish-brown; lightest on the rump and darkest on the head where the feathers 
usually show darker centres. Wings, above, dark brown band on the outer webs, with the same color as the back, 
which becomes lighter on the first quills. Tail, like the rump, but barred with dusky. Beneath, dirty white, with 
the breast and flanks tinged with brownish which becomes quite rufous on the latter. The flanks, breast and sides 
are usually somewhat obscurely barred. Under tail coverts, white, barred with rufous and black. Under surface of 
wings, glaucous. Under wing coverts, pale buff. Under part of tail, paler than the upper, otherwise similar. Ear 
coverts, mixed with whitish. In autumn there is a more rufous suffusion beneath and the whole head is darker. 
Young, similar, but with the wing coverts spotted with white. In this stage there is sometimes a white 
superciliary stripe. Sexes, alike. Neck, brown. Bill, brown, lighter at the basal portion of the under mandible. 
Tarsi and feet, brown. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This is an extremely variable species in shading and in coloration. The middle of the back is frequently barred, 
but in a specimen from Florida, which I collected during winter, there are conspicuous dark transverse lines from 
the forehead to the end of the tail, while the feathers of the breast, sides, abdomen and flanks are crossed with fine 
wavy lines of dark brown. The throat is washed with reddish-brown and the whole breast is very dark. I have 
specimens running from this through every gradation of shading and marking to a very pale specimen, also from 
Florida, where the bars on the body are so nearly obsolete as to be only just perceptible on the middle of the back 
and flanks. A specimen of ParTcmanii which I have, that was labelled at the Smithsonian Institution, in point of 
color falls within this wide range of individual variation, and specimens of typical aedon now before me exhibit the 
same proportionate differences in size of the wings and tail. I have elsewhere (Naturalists’ Guide, p. 95, 96, 97) 
proved conclusively that the Americanus of Audubon was only a darker type of aedon. I have no specimens of 
intermedins and inquietus, yet judge from the descriptions that they are very similar to aedon if really distinct. The 
House Wren differs from T. hyemalis in being larger, darker, and in having the sides of the neck unspotted. The flanks 
and abdomen of hyemalis are also more deeply barred with black. Habitat throughout the entire United States and 
probably through Mexico. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of 50 specimens from Florida and New England.—Length, 4-80; stretch, 6-25; wing 2-08; 
tail, 1-62; bill, -49; tarsus, -60. Longest specimen, 5-75; greatest extent of wings, 7-00; longest wing, 2-90; tail 2-40, 
bill, *60; tarsus, -75. Shortest specimen, 4-30; smallest extent of wings, 6-10; shortest wing, 1-70; tail, 1-30; bill; 
•40; tarsus, •50. 
