44 
Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Wren of St. Kilda. 
more distinctly barred on the back than the St. Kilda bird, 
and has the throat and breast quite white, without any trace 
of spots; in fact, it agrees very closely with examples from 
St. Kilda, except that it is more rufous in tinge of colour. 
I do not find any difference between the bill of the St. Kilda 
Wren and that of typical examples from Europe; and I cannot 
agree with Mr. Dixon (Ibis, 1885, p. 81) in his statement 
that the bill of the former resembles that of Troglodytes 
borealis, inasmuch as T. borealis has a much larger and con¬ 
spicuously stouter bill. All the last-received specimens of 
the St. Kilda Wren are conspicuously pale and grey in tinge 
of colour; but this is easily accounted for by the fact that 
they were all sent in spirits, and it is well known that birds 
thus treated become paler in colour, and that any tinge of 
rufous in the plumage is most apt to suffer. In point of fact, 
the type specimen of so-called Troglodytes hirtensis is con¬ 
siderably more rufescent than the last spirit-preserved ex¬ 
amples received from there, and is about the same in tinge 
of colour as the specimen from Asia Minor above referred to. 
In size the St. Kilda Wren agrees closely with examples 
from different parts of Europe, except that it has the wing 
and tarsus a trifle longer, as will be seen by the following 
table of measurements, all the specimens being males:— 
Culmen. Wing, 
in. in. 
England........ 
. 0-55 
1-95 
Ditto.... 
0-55 
1-92 
Piedmont. 
0-52 
1-90 
Macedonia. 
0*55 
1-90 
Asia Minor .... 
0-55 
1-90 
Palestine .. 
0-65 
1-95 
Central Asia ... 
. 0*55 
2-00 
St. Kilda . 
0-55 
2-10 
Ditto.. 
055 
2-05 
Hind toe 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
without claw. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
1-35 
075 
0-35 
1-35 
0-70 
0-33 
1-35 
0-68 
0-33 
1-40 
0-70 
0-32 
1-35 
0-75 
0-33 
1-45 
0-75 
0-33 
1-40 
0-75 
0-33 
1-50 
0-75 
0-33 
1*55 
0-78 
0-33 
The Faroese Wren ( Troglodytes borealis ) differs from Tro¬ 
glodytes parvulus in having the underparts more strongly 
barred, in being darker in colour, and especially in being 
somewhat larger in size, and in having a much stouter bill and 
