FAMILY TROGLODYTIDÆ.—THE WRENS…

FAMILY TROGLODYTIDÆ.—THE WRENS

CHAR. Rictal bristles wanting; the loral feathers with bristly points; the frontal feathers generally not reaching to nostrils. Nostrils varied, exposed or not covered by feathers, and generally overhung by a scale-like membrane. Bill usually without notch (except in some Middle American genera). Wings much rounded, about equal to tail, which is graduated. Primaries ten, the first generally about half the second. Basal joint of middle toe usually united to half the basal joint of inner, and the whole of that of the outer, or more. Lateral toes about equal, or the outer a little the longer. Tarsi scutellate.

The impossibility of defining any large group of animals, so as to separate it stringently and abruptly from all others, is well understood among naturalists; and the Troglodytidæ form no exception to the rule. Some bear so close a resemblance to the Mocking Thrushes as to have been combined with them; while others again exhibit a close approximation to other subfamilies. The general affinities of the family, however, appear to be to the Turdidæ, and one of the best characters for separating the two families appears to exist in the structure of the feet.

In the Turdidæ the basal joint of the outer lateral toe is united to the middle toe, sometimes only a part of it; and the inner toe is cleft almost to its very base, so as to be opposable to the hind toe, separate from the others. In the Troglodytidæ, on the contrary, the inner toe is united by half its basal joint to the middle toe, sometimes by the whole of this joint; and the second joint of the outer toe enters wholly or partially into this union, instead of the basal joint only. In addition to this character, the open, exposed nostrils, the usually lengthened bill, the generally equal lateral toes, the short rounded wings, the graduated tail, etc., furnish points of distinction.

Genera.

A. Lateral toes very unequal.

a. Culmen depressed basally, the interval between the nostrils wider than the much compressed anterior half of the bill. Plate on the posterior half of the tarsus continuous. Catherpes.

b. Culmen compressed basally, the interval between the nostrils narrower than the rather depressed anterior half of the bill. Plate on the posterior half of the tarsus broken into smaller scales. Salpinctes.

B. Lateral toes equal.

c. Length about 8 inches. Campylorhynchus.

d. Length less than 6 inches.

Bill abruptly decurved or hooked at the tip. Outstretched feet not reaching near to end of tail. Thryothorus.

Tail longer than the wing, the feathers black, variegated terminally with whitish … Subgenus Thryomanes.

Tail shorter than the wing, the feathers rusty, not variegated with whitish … Subgenus Thryothorus.

Bill only gently curved at the tip. Outstretched feet reaching nearly to or beyond the end of the tail.

Back without streaks. No distinct superciliary stripe. Troglodytes.

Bill curved, sub-conical. Tail as long as wing.… Subgenus Troglodytes.

Bill straight, subulate. Tail much shorter than wing.… Subgenus Anorthura.

Back streaked with black and white. Cistothorus.

Bill short, stout; its depth equal to one half its length from the nostril; gonys straight or even convex, ascending. Crown streaked; no distinct superciliary stripe.… Subgenus Cistothorus.

Bill elongated, slender; its depth less than one third its length from the nostril; gonys slightly concave, declining. Crown not streaked; a conspicuous superciliary stripe.… Subgenus Telmatodytes.

GENUS CAMPYLORHYNCHUS, SPIX.

Campylorhynchus, SPIX, Av. Bras. I, 1824, 77. (Type, C. scolopaceus, SPIX = Turdus variegatus, GMEL.)

[Line drawing: Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus. 7149]

GEN. CHAR. Bill stout, compressed, as long as, or longer than the head, without notch or rictal bristles; culmen and commissure curved; gonys nearly straight. Nostrils in the antero-inferior part of nasal groove, in advance of the frontal feathers, with an overhanging scale with thickened edge, as in Thryothorus; sometimes, as in the type, reduced to a slight ridge along the upper side of the nasal groove. Lateral septum not projecting below or anteriorly into the nasal cavity, but concealed by the nasal scale. Tarsus a little longer than middle toe and claw; claws strong, much curved, and very sharp; middle toe with basal joint adherent almost throughout. Wings and tail about equal, the latter graduated; the exterior webs of lateral feathers broad.

This genus embraces the largest species of the family, and is well represented in Middle and South America, two species only reaching into North America, which may be distinguished as follows:—

Top of head and post-ocular stripe reddish-brown; back streaked longitudinally and linearly with white. All the feathers beneath conspicuously spotted. Crissum and flanks with rounded or elongated spots. Iris reddish. Nostrils inferior, linear, overhung by a scale. Nests large and purse-shaped; eggs white, profusely marked with salmon-colored or reddish spots.

a. Spots much larger on throat and jugulum than elsewhere. Inner webs of second to fifth tail-feathers (between middle and outer feathers) black, except at tips. Length, 8.00; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.55. Hab. Adjacent borders of United States and Mexico … brunneicapillus.

b. Spots on throat and jugulum little larger than elsewhere. Inner webs of intermediate tail-feathers banded with white like the outer. Length, 7.50. Hab. Cape St. Lucas … affinis.

Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, GRAY.

CACTUS WREN.

Picolaptes brunneicapillus, LAFRESNAYE, Mag. de Zool. 1835, 61, pl. xlvii.—LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 114.—CASSIN, Birds Cal. Tex. 1854, 156, pl. xxv.—HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. II, 1853, 263. C. brunneicapillus, GRAY, Genera, I, 1847, 159.—BP. Consp. 1850, 223.—SCL. P. A. N. S. 156, 264.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 355; Pr. Phil. Acad. 1859, 3, etc.; Rev. 99.—HEERMANN, P. R. R. X, 1859.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 482 (Texas).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 61.

SP. CHAR. Bill as long as the head. Above brown; darkest on the head, which is unspotted. Feathers on the back streaked centrally with white. Beneath whitish, tinged with rusty on the belly; the feathers of the throat and upper parts, and under tail-coverts, with large rounded black spots; those of the remaining under parts with smaller, more linear ones. Chin and line over the eye white. Tail-feathers black beneath, barred subterminally (the outer one throughout) with white. Iris, reddish-yellow. Length, 8 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.55.

HAB. Adjacent borders of the United States and Mexico, from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Valley of the Colorado, and to the Pacific coast of Southern California. Replaced at Cape St. Lucas by C. affinis.

This species is found abundantly along the line of the Rio Grande and Gila, extending northward some distance, and everywhere conspicuous by its wren-like habits and enormous nest.

HABITS. The Brown-headed Creeper is a comparatively recent addition to the fauna of the United States, but appears to be common along the southwestern borders of the United States, from the valley of the Rio Grande to San Diego, in California. In Lower California it is replaced by the C. affinis.

It was first added to our avifauna by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, on the strength of a specimen obtained in Texas by Captain McCown.

Dr. Heermann, in his paper on the Birds of California, speaks of finding it in the arid country back of Guymas, on the Gulf of California. This country, presenting only broken surfaces and a confused mass of volcanic rocks, covered by a scanty vegetation of thorny bushes and cacti, among other interesting birds, was found to contain this species in abundance. He describes it as a lively, sprightly species, uttering, at intervals, clear, loud, ringing notes. Its nest, composed of grasses and lined with feathers, was in the shape of a long purse, enormous for the size of the bird, and laid flat between the forks or on the branches of a cactus. The entrance was a covered passage, varying from six to ten inches in length. The eggs, six in number, he described as being of a delicate salmon-color, very pale, and often so thickly speckled with ash and darker salmon-colored spots as to give quite a rich cast to the whole surface of the egg.

Lieutenant Couch met with these birds near Monterey. He states that they have a rich, powerful song. Of the nest he gives substantially the same description as that furnished by Dr. Heermann.

The eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, slightly more pointed at one end, and are so equally and generally covered, over a white ground, with fine salmon-colored spots, as to present a uniform and almost homogeneous appearance. They vary in length from an inch to 1.02 inches, and have an average breadth of .68 of an inch.

Campylorhynchus affinis, XANTUS.

THE CAPE CACTUS WREN.

Campylorhynchus affinis, XANTUS, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 298 (Cape St. Lucas).—BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 303; Rev. 100.—SCL. Catal. 1861, 17, no. 108.—ELLIOT, Illust. B. N. A. I, IV.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 62.

SP. CHAR. Cap of head reddish-brown; the concealed centres of feathers dusky. Rest of upper parts grayish-brown, all the feathers of body and scapulars with broad central or shaft streaks of whitish edged with black; the streaks irregular in outline, on some feathers nearly linear, in others widening at intervals along the shaft. Outer webs of the wing-feathers crossed by about seven rows of whitish semicircular spots, with corresponding series of more circular ones on the inner web. Tail-feathers black, all of them with a series of about eight quadrate white spots on each web, which are alternate to each other, not opposite, and extend from or near the black shaft to the edge; the extreme tips of the feathers black; the two central feathers, however, more like the back, with irregular mottling of grayish and black. Upper tail-coverts barred transversely with black.

Under parts white, faintly tinged with rusty posteriorly; each feather spotted with black, excepting on the immaculate chin. These spots are rather larger and more quadrate on the jugulum, where they are sometimes on the sides of the feathers (on one or both sides); posteriorly, however, they are elongated or tear-shaped, and strung along the shaft, one or two on each. On the crissum they are large and much rounded, three or four on each longer feather. Legs rather dusky. Bill lead-color, pale at the base below; iris reddish-brown. A broad white stripe from bill over the eye and nape; edged above and below with black; line behind the eye like the crown; cheek-feathers white, edged with blackish.

Immature specimens exhibit a tendency to a whitish spotting in the ends of the feathers of the cap. A very young bird does not, however, differ materially, except in having the spots less distinct beneath, the white streaks less conspicuous above, the white of the wings soiled with rufous. Specimens vary considerably in the proportional as well as absolute thickness and length of the bill; thus, No. 32,167 measures .80 from nostril to end of bill, instead of .60, as given below for No. 12,965.

12,965. Total length, 7.50; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.40; its graduation, .45; exposed portion of first primary, 1.42, of second, 2.15, of longest, or fourth (measured from exposed base of first primary), 2.45; length of bill from forehead, .90, from nostril, .60; along gape, 1.07; tarsus, 1.02; middle toe and claw, .90; claw alone, .25; hind toe and claw, .76; claw alone, .35.

HAB. Only observed at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California.

This species is most nearly allied to C. brunneicapillus; the most apparent difference at first sight being in the greater concentration of black on the throat and jugulum in brunneicapillus, and the much smaller size of the remaining spots on the under parts, with the decided light-cinnamon of the posterior portion of the body. The outer and central tail-feathers alone are marked as in C. affinis, the intermediate ones being entirely black, with the exception of a white subterminal band.

This is one of the most characteristic birds constituting the isolated fauna of Cape St. Lucas. Like nearly all the species peculiar to this remarkable locality, it is exceedingly abundant, breeding in immense numbers. It has not yet been detected elsewhere, though it may possibly be found on the Lower Colorado.

HABITS. This recently described species was first discovered by Mr. Xantus, and has, so far as is known, a somewhat restricted locality, having been met with only at the southern extremity of Lower California, where it is an exceedingly abundant bird. Mr. Xantus has published no observations in regard to its habits, which, however, are probably very nearly identical with those of the more common species. From the brief memoranda given by him in the general register of his collections, made at Cape St. Lucas, we gather that their nests were built almost exclusively in opuntias, cacti, and the prickly pear, and were generally only four or five feet from the ground, but occasionally at the height of ten feet.

The nests are large purse-shaped collections of twigs and coarse grasses, very similar to, and hardly distinguishable in any respect from, those of the more northern species. The eggs vary from 1.05 to 1 inch in length, and from .65 to .70 of an inch in breadth, and have a reddish-white ground very uniformly dotted with fine markings of reddish-brown, purple, and slate.

SUBGENUS SALPINCTES, CABANIS.

Salpinctes, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 323. (Type, Troglodytes obsoletus, SAY.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill as long as the head; all the outlines nearly straight to the tip, then decurved; nostrils oval. Feet weak; tarsi decidedly longer than the middle toe; outer lateral toe much longer, reaching to the base of the middle claw, and equal to the hinder. Wings about one fifth longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary about half that of the second, and two fifths that of the fourth and fifth. Tail-feathers very broad, plane, nearly even or slightly rounded; the lateral moderately graduated.

Of this genus but one species is so far known in the United States, the Rock Wren of the earlier ornithologists. It is peculiar among its cognate genera by having the two continuous plates on each side the tarsus divided into seven or more smaller plates, with a naked interval between them and the anterior scutellæ. Other characters will be found detailed in the Review of American Birds, p. 109.

Salpinctes obsoletus, CABAN.

ROCK WREN.

Troglodytes obsoletus, SAY, Long’s Exped. II, 1823, 4 (south fork of Platte).—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, pl. ccclx.—IB. B. A. II, pl. cxvi.—NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 80.—HEERMANN, P. R. R. Rep. X, 1859, 41. Salpinctes obsoletus, CAB. Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 323.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357; Rev. 110.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 371 (Oaxaca).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 64. ? Troglodytes latisfasciatus, LICHT. Preis-Verzeich. 1831, no. 82.

[Line drawing: Salpinctes obsoletus. 7157 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Plumage very soft and lax. Bill about as long as the head. Upper parts brownish-gray, each feather with a central line and (except on the head) transverse bars of dusky, and a small dull brownish-white spot at the end (seen also on the tips of the secondaries). Rump, sides of the body, and posterior part of belly and under tail-coverts dull cinnamon, darker above. Rest of under parts dirty white; feathers of throat and breast with dusky central streaks. Lower tail-coverts banded broadly with black. Inner tail-feathers like the back, the others with a broad black bar near the end; the tips cinnamon; the outer on each side alternately banded with this color and black. A dull white line above and behind the eye. Iris brown. Length, 5.70; wing, 2.82; tail, 2.40. Young not marked or banded beneath. Eggs white, spotted with red.

HAB. Central regions of the United States, to Mexico, east to mouth of Yellowstone River. Cape St. Lucas. Not recorded from Pacific slope. W. Arizona, Coues. Oaxaca, SCLATER.

HABITS. The Rock Wren, so far as its distribution is known, is principally restricted to the high central plains of the Rocky Mountains, from Nebraska to the coast ranges near the Pacific, and from Oregon to Mexico and Lower California. According to Dr. Cooper it is an abundant species throughout the dry, rocky, and barren districts of California, especially in the southern portions, where it comes nearer the coast. They are numerous among the plains on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. Their favorite places are among the rocks, where they are always busily engaged in hunting for insects in the crevices. Dr. Cooper found nests at San Diego in cavities under the tiled roofs of houses, but they all contained young as early as May. At Fort Mojave they began to sing in February, and their song continued throughout the spring. They range to a high elevation among the mountains, having been found by Dr. Newberry at Klamath Lake in Oregon. Dr. Cooper does not describe their song, but Dr. Heermann speaks of it as only a very weak trill. The latter met with them in the mountainous districts of California, where they were searching for their food among the crevices of the rocks. He afterwards met with them in New Mexico and Texas. They were quite abundant in the Tejon Valley, passing in and out, among and under the boulders profusely scattered over the mountains, searching for spiders, worms, and small insects, in pursuit of which they uttered at intervals a loud and quick note of a peculiarly thrilling character. Lieutenant Couch found them in the sandstone ranges near Patos, in the province of Coahuila. Some of their habits are spoken of as sparrow-like, and, while they have the usual wren-like grating noises, they also possess a song of great variety and sweetness.

Dr. Kennerly met with them among the bushes in the vicinity of the Rio Grande. Their flight he describes as short, the bird generally soon alighting on the ground and running off very rapidly.

This Wren was first discovered by Mr. Say near the Arkansas River, inhabiting a sterile district devoid of trees, hopping along the ground or flitting through the low, stunted junipers on the banks of the river, usually in small flocks of five or six. Nuttall afterwards found them in July on the Western Colorado. The note of the female was charr-charr-te-aigh, with a strong guttural accent, and with a shrill call similar to the note of the Carolina Wren. The old birds were feeding a brood of five young, which, though full grown, were cherished with querulous assiduity. He found them nesting among the rocky ledges, in the crevices of which they hide themselves when disturbed. Mr. Nuttall also met with this species near Fort Vancouver. Mr. Salvin states that in several instances it has been met with in Guatemala.

The eggs of this Wren obtained by Dr. Palmer in Arizona have a clear white ground, sparingly spotted with well-defined, distinct dottings of brownish-red. These are chiefly distributed around the larger end. They vary somewhat in size and shape, some being of a more rounded form, though all have one end more pointed than the other. The length is pretty uniform, .77 of an inch. The breadth varies from .60 to .66 of an inch. They are larger and more oblong than the eggs of any other Wren, except perhaps the mexicanus, and bear little resemblance to any other eggs of this family with which I am acquainted, except those of the Winter Wren, and the egg attributed to T. americanus.

The nest is homogeneous in structure, composed entirely of thin strips of reddish-colored bark and fine roots, interspersed with a few small bits of wool. It is distorted by packing, so that measurements of it would be valueless; its dimensions in its pressed condition are: diameter, 5 inches; depth, 2 inches. The cavity is shallow and saucer-shaped.

From Mr. Ridgway we learn that from the summit of the Sierra Nevada eastward, as far as the party explored, he found this Wren universally distributed. In the middle provinces of the Rocky Mountains it was the most abundant species of the family, but was not so abundant in the Wahsatch Mountains. The general resort of this species was among rocky or stony hill-slopes, though it was not confined to such localities. At Carson City he found it particularly partial to the rubbish of the decaying pine-logs. At Virginia City it was the only Wren seen frequenting the old buildings and abandoned mining-shafts, in its predilection for such places reminding him very much of the Thryothorus ludovicianus, which in its manners it very strongly resembles.

Mr. Ridgway noticed a wonderful variety in the notes of this Wren. Its peculiarly guttural turee was repeatedly heard, and its song in spring had a slight resemblance in modulation to that of the Carolina Wren, though altogether lacking the power and richness so characteristic of the superb song of that bird. Frequently its song was changed into a prolonged monotonous trill, similar to the tremulous spring-call of the Junco hyemalis.

This species is not so wary as the Catherpes mexicanus. Upon suddenly starting up an individual of this kind, he would fly to the nearest boulder, turn with his breast towards the party, swing oddly from side to side, all the while ludicrously bowing and scolding the intruder with his peculiar sharp expressions of displeasure.

Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the Fauna of the Territory of Montana, states that he observed this bird occasionally through the main Rocky Mountain chain to near the crossing of the Bitterroot, but it was less common than among the cliffs and rocks of the barren plain along their eastern slope. Though he did not find it in the western part of Washington Territory, he has no doubt that it frequents parts of the rocky cañons of the Columbia Plain. A nest with nine eggs was found in a log-cabin below Fort Benton.

GENUS CATHERPES, BAIRD.

Catherpes, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357. (Type, Thryothorus mexicanus, SW.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill longer than the head, slender; all the outlines nearly straight to the tip, then gently decurved, gonys least so; nostrils linear; tarsus short, about equal to the middle toe, which reaches to the middle of the middle claw. Outer toe considerably longer than the inner, reaching beyond the base of the middle claw. Wings a little longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary about half that of the fourth and fifth. Tail-feathers very broad and perfectly plane; tail nearly even; the two lateral graduated; the outer about eleven twelfths of the middle.

[Line drawing: Catherpes mexicanus. 3969 ♂]

This genus agrees with Salpinctes in the broad, plane tail-feathers, but the bill is much longer, the nostrils linear, not oval, the feet much stouter, the outer toe rather longer; the tarsus shorter, being equal to the middle toe, not longer; the hind toe much longer than the outer lateral, instead of equal to it. The wings are but little longer than the tail, and shorter than in Salpinctes.

This genus is confined to the western portions, where a single species, C. mexicanus, occurs in two well-marked varieties:—

C. mexicanus.

Culmen almost straight, the tip decurved, gonys straight. Above blackish-brown; wings and back sparsely sprinkled with minute white specks; no such markings on head or neck. Bars on tail very broad, .12 in width on outer feathers. Wing, 2.84; tail, 2.40; culmen, .96; tarsus, .75; middle toe, .68; posterior, .47; outer, .52; inner, .49 (52,791, Mazatlan, Mexico). Hab. Mexico … var. mexicanus.

Culmen and gonys both gently curved, the latter somewhat concave. Above cinnamon-ashy, more reddish on rump and wings; head and neck above with numerous dots of white; very few of these on back and wings. Tail-bars very narrow and thread-like. Wing, 2.48; tail, 2.12; culmen, .83; tarsus, .56; middle toe, .52; posterior, .35; outer, .44; inner, .36 (53,425 ♂, Fort Churchill, Nevada). Hab. Middle (and Pacific?) Province of United States … var. conspersus.

In var. mexicanus the white of throat is more abruptly defined against the rufous of abdomen than in var. conspersus, in which the transition is very gradual. The latter has the secondaries rufous with narrow isolated bars of black; the former has them blackish, indented on lower webs with dark rufous. In mexicanus the feet are very stout, and dark brown; in conspersus they are much weaker, and deep black.

All specimens from south of the United States (including Giraud’s type of Certhia albifrons) belong to the restricted mexicanus, while all from the United States are of the var. conspersus.

Catherpes mexicanus, var. conspersus, RIDGWAY.

CAÑON WREN; WHITE-THROATED ROCK WREN.

Troglodytes mexicanus, HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. 2d ser. II, 1853, 63.—IB. P. R. R. Rep. X, 1859, 41.—CASSIN, Illust. Birds Cal. I, 1854, 173, pl. xxx. Catherpes mexicanus, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 356 (in part); Rev. III (in part).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 66. Catherpes mexicanus var. conspersus, RIDGWAY.

SP. CHAR. (No. 53,425 ♂, near Fort Churchill, Nevada, December 7, 1867; R. RIDGWAY). Above, brownish-ashy on the anterior, and bright cinnamon-rufous on the posterior half, the two colors shading insensibly together. The anterior, or grayish portion thickly sprinkled with numerous small circular dots of white, each preceded by a smaller speck of dusky; a few of these dots on the rump. Wings with obsolete, ragged, narrow, isolated bars of dusky, these most sharply defined on the secondaries. Tail clear rufous, crossed with about nine very narrow, thread-like, somewhat zigzag bars of black,—these about .02 wide on the middle, and .07 on the outer feather. Beneath, anterior third, pure silky-white, shading insensibly into soft ochraceous on the breast, this soon darkening into deep ferruginous, the color of all the posterior lower parts; the whole of this ferruginous surface, with very obsolete transverse spots of white, each preceded by a narrower dusky one. Length, 5.75; extent of wings, 7.50 (fresh); wing, 2.48; tail, 2.13; culmen, .83; tarsus, .56. Bill deep slate, paler, and with lilaceous tinge, at base of lower mandible; iris umber; tarsi and toes black (fresh colors).

HAB. Central region of North America, from boundary of United States northward. Extends up Valley of Colorado. Western Nevada, resident; RIDGWAY.

The above characters apply to all specimens of Catherpes from north of Mexico, as substantiated by a sufficient series in the collection. It is a remarkable fact that this northern race should be so much smaller than the Mexican one, especially in view of the fact that it is a resident bird in even the most northern parts of its ascertained habitat.

HABITS. The geographical distribution of this race of the White-throated Wren, so far as known, is confined to the line of the United States and Mexican boundary, extending northward up the Valley of the Colorado, as far as Western Nevada. The corresponding Mexican race reaches some distance southward, but has not yet been detected beyond the limits of Mexico. The habits of both races, however, are quite similar, as far as known.

Dr. Heermann first met with this Wren in the spring of 1851, on the Cosumnes River. In the following year he procured three specimens on the Calaveras River. He describes it as an active, sprightly bird, having a loud and pleasing song that may be heard a great distance, and which it repeats at short intervals. When found, it was occupied with searching for insects, between and under the large boulders of rock that, in some portions of the river, are thrown together in confused masses, as if by some terrific convulsion of nature.

Dr. Kennerly also met with this species in similar localities among the hills bordering upon the Big Sandy, where the rocks are also described as piled up thick and high. They were darting from rock to rock and creeping among the crevices with great activity, constantly repeating their peculiar and singular note. The great rapidity of their motions rendered it difficult to procure a specimen. He did not observe this bird anywhere else.

Their occurrence equally in such wild and desolate regions and in the midst of crowded cities indicates that the abundance of their food in either place, and not the absence or presence of man, determines this choice of residence. When first observed they were supposed to nest exclusively in deep and inaccessible crevices of rocks, where they were not likely to be traced. Mr. H. E. Dresser afterwards met with its nest and eggs in Western Texas, though he gives no description of either. He found this species rather common near San Antonio, where it remained to breed. One pair frequented a printing-office at that place, an old half-ruined building, where their familiar habits made them great favorites with the workmen, who informed him that the previous spring they had built a nest and reared their young in an old wall close by, and that they became very tame. At Dr. Heermann’s rancho on the Medina he procured the eggs of this bird, as well as those of the Louisiana and Bewick’s Wren, by nailing up cigar-boxes, with holes cut in front, wherever these birds were likely to build.

Mr. Sumichrast describes its nest[29] as very skilfully wrought with spiders’ webs, and built in the crevices of old walls, or in the interstices between the tiles under the roofs of the houses. A nest with four eggs, supposed to be those of this species, was obtained in Western Texas by Mr. J. H. Clark; it was cup-shaped, not large, and with only a slight depression. The eggs, four in number, were unusually oblong and pointed for eggs of this family, and measured .80 by .60 of an inch, with a crystalline-white ground, profusely covered with numerous and large blotches of a reddish or cinnamon brown.

So far as the observations of Mr. Ridgway enabled him to notice this bird, he found it much less common than the Salpinctes obsoletus, and inhabiting only the most secluded and rocky recesses of the mountains. Its common note of alarm is described as a peculiarly ringing dīnk. It has a remarkably odd and indescribably singular chant, utterly unlike anything else Mr. Ridgway ever heard. This consisted of a series of detached whistles, beginning in a high fine key, every note clear, smooth, and of equal length, each in succession being a degree lower than the preceding one, and only ending when the bottom of the scale is reached. The tone is soft, rich, and silvery, resembling somewhat the whistling of the Cardinal Grosbeak.

It was often seen to fly nearly perpendicularly up the face of a rocky wall, and was also noticed to cling to the roof of a cave with all the facility of a true Creeper.

GENUS THRYOTHORUS, VIEILL.

Thryothorus, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816, 45. (Type, Troglodytes arundinaceus, “Troglodyte des Roseaux,” VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 55 = Sylvia ludoviciana, LATH.)

[Line drawing: Thryothorus ludovicianus 7113]

GEN. CHAR. Bill compressed, rather slender; height about one fourth the length above. Culmen and commissure gently curved throughout; gonys straight; tip very obsoletely notched. Nostrils in the lower edge of anterior extremity of the nasal groove, narrowly elliptical, overhung by a stiff scale-like roof of the thickened membrane of the upper part of the nasal groove, the crescentic edge rounded. The septum of nostrils imperforate; the posterior part of the nasal cavity with a short septum projecting into it parallel with the central, not perpendicular as in Microcerculus. Wings and tail about equal, the latter moderately rounded; the first primary more than half the second, about half the longest. Tarsi rather short, scarcely exceeding middle toe. Anterior scutellæ distinct, rest of each side of tarsi in a continuous plate. Lateral toes equal.

The diagnoses of the North American species are as follows:—

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Head above, and back, of much the same color. Crissum barred transversely; rest of under parts plain. Upper tail-coverts and exposed surface of wings barred. Iris hazel. Nest in holes or with an arched covering. Eggs reddish-white, spotted with red and purple.

a. Thryothorus.

T. ludovicianus. Tail-feathers reddish-brown, barred with black. Greater wing-coverts spotted with whitish.

Beneath yellow-whitish, washed occasionally with rusty. Sides plain. Bill from nostril, .45. Length, 6.00. Hab. Eastern Province United States … var. ludovicianus.

Beneath rufous; lighter on throat and along median line. Sides obsoletely barred with dusky. Bill from nostril, .56. Length, 5.25. Hab. Lower Rio Grande … var. berlandieri.

b. Telmatodytes.

T. bewickii. Tail-feathers, except central, black; the exposed surface and tips only varied with white. Length, 5.50.

Above dark rufous-brown; beneath plumbeous-white; flanks tinged with brown. Rump and exposed secondaries distinctly banded. Quills and middle tail-feathers brownish-black. Length from nostril, .39; along gape, .70. Hab. Eastern Province United States … var. bewickii.

Above ashy-brown; beneath, including flanks, clear white; rump ashy, and, like secondaries, very obsoletely barred. Quills and middle tail-feathers grayish-brown. Hab. Southern border of United States, into Mexico … var. leucogaster.

Colors intermediate between the two last. Bill longer, from nostril, .50, from gape, .81. Hab. Pacific Province … var. spilurus.

SUBGENUS THRYOTHORUS, VIEILL.

Thryothorus ludovicianus, var. ludovicianus, BONAP.

GREAT CAROLINA WREN.

Sylvia ludoviciana, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 548. Troglodytes ludovicianus, LICHT. Verz. 1823, 35; also of BONAPARTE, AUDUBON, and PRINCE MAX. Thryothorus ludovicianus, BON. List. 1838, etc.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 361; Rev. 123. Troglodytes arundinaceus, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 55, pl. cviii. (Certainly this species; the habits those of C. palustris.) Certhia caroliniana, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 61, pl. xii, fig. 5. Thryothorus littoralis, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XXXIV. 1819, 56. Thryothorus louisianæ, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. 1840, 262. Additional figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. lxxvii.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. cxvii.

SP. CHAR. Exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head. Above reddish-brown, most vivid on the rump. A whitish streak over the eye, bordered above with dark brown. Throat whitish; rest of under parts pale yellow-rusty, darkest towards the under tail-coverts, which are conspicuously barred with black. Exposed surface of the wings and tail (including the upper coverts) barred throughout with brown, the outer edges of tail-feathers and quills showing series of alternating whitish and dusky spots. Legs flesh-colored. Length, 6 inches; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.45.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, from New York southward to the Gulf.

HABITS. The Great Carolina or Mocking Wren is found in all the Southeastern and Southern States from Florida to Maryland, and from the Atlantic to Kansas and the Valley of the Rio Grande. It is not common about Washington, but is much more abundant in the Southern States. Occasionally it has been found as far north as Philadelphia, and in one or two instances near New York, where Mr. Lawrence has twice seen it, and where on one occasion it appeared to be breeding. Dr. Woodhouse found it very abundant throughout Texas and the Indian Territory. It is also abundant, and resident, in Southern Illinois, as far north as latitude 38° 20′ 20″.

The habits and movements of this species, as described by those who have had the best opportunities for observing it, correspond with those of the whole family of Wrens. Its flight is usually only in short distances, and is accompanied with short flappings of the wings, and violent jerkings of the body and the tail. The latter is usually kept erect. It moves with quick jerks, and with sharp, rapid notes uttered as if in anger. It is in sight one moment and out the next, passes in at one place and out at another with the rapidity of thought. Mr. Audubon often saw it singing from the roof of an abandoned flat-boat, near New Orleans, and when its song was ended it would creep from one board to the next, enter an augur-hole at one place to reappear at another, catching numerous spiders and other insects all the while.

Occasionally its movements are like those of a Creeper, ascending to the upper branches of trees of a moderate height, or climbing a grapevine, searching diligently among the leaves and in the crevices of the bark for insects.

This species possesses a great variety and power of song. It is also said to have and to exhibit remarkable powers of imitation, with a great variety in its appropriated notes of other birds, giving, with modulations, the hoarse rattle of the Kingfisher, the lively notes of the Tufted Titmouse, the simple refrain of the Ground Robin, with those of the Grakles, the Meadow Lark, the Bluebird, and others. Like the common Wren, the Carolina generally builds its nest in the hollow of some tree or stump, or any other convenient cavity. At other times it constructs its own habitation without any other protection than the thick branches of a vine or shrub. In these situations they are long and deep, and have an artificial roofing, often separate from the nest itself. The materials employed in their construction are hay, grasses, leaves, feathers, horse-hair, and dry fibres of the long Spanish moss. They are softly and warmly lined with fur, hair, and feathers. The nest is not unfrequently five or six inches in depth, while the opening is not large enough to admit more than one bird at a time. They sometimes raise three broods in a season.

It breeds as far north as Philadelphia, Mr. Audubon having found its nest in a swamp in New Jersey, opposite that city.

Although seemingly studious of concealment, and shy and retiring in its habits, Nuttall frequently observed it in Tuscaloosa and other large towns in Alabama, appearing on the tops of barns and out-houses, singing with great energy.

Dr. Cooper, who enjoyed a favorable opportunity of watching these birds in Florida, in the spring and summer of 1859, found a nest of this Wren in the middle of March. It was built in a small box on a shelf in a mill, and was about four feet from the ground. It was arched over at the top, though this was not necessary to shelter it. This covering was formed of shavings, with a few small sticks and straws. Four eggs were laid. The birds were very tame, and were not alarmed by the loud noise of the mill, nor by a cat almost always present. Another nest found by Dr. Cooper was built in a small hole in the trunk of a tree, not more than six inches from the ground. This nest was not arched over. Its close proximity to a dwelling-house alone protected it from wild animals.

The eggs of this Wren are usually six or seven in number, and vary in size and shape. They are for the most part of a spheroidal-oval shape, though some are more oblong than others. Their length varies from .75 to .70 of an inch, and their greatest breadth from .60 to .65. The ground-color is a reddish-white, profusely covered with blotches of purple, slate, reddish-brown, and red. These are generally and pretty equally diffused, and are not more abundant at the larger end than elsewhere.

Thryothorus ludovicianus, var. berlandieri, COUCH.

BERLANDIER’S WREN.

Thryothorus berlandieri, COUCH, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 362, pl. lxxxiii, fig. 1 (New Leon); Rev. 124.

SP. CHAR. Exposed portion of bill nearly as long as the head. Above dark rusty-brown, most vivid on the rump. A whitish streak over the eye, bordered above with brown. Chin white; rest of under parts dark brownish-red; the under tail-coverts and sides of the body barred with dusky. Exposed surface of wings and tail barred throughout with dusky. Legs flesh-color. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.12.

HAB. Valley of Rio Grande.

The distinctive features of this race will be found indicated on page 141. This form bears to the T. ludovicianus about the same relation that Harporhynchus longirostris does to H. rufus; and is hardly to be considered a distinct “species” from it. It should be noted that in both cases the lengthened bill and deeper color belong to the Rio Grande. It has not yet been met with north of the Rio Grande, but doubtless extends into Texas. Nothing is known of its habits.

SUBGENUS THRYOMANES, SCLAT.

Thryomanes, SCLATER, Catal. Am. Birds, 1861, 21. (Type Troglodytes bewickii.)

[Line drawing: Thryothorus bewickii. 2047 ♂]

There are three strongly marked geographical varieties of “Bewick’s Wren,” separable by quite constant characters. Of these the Mexican (leucogaster) and the typical form from eastern North America (bewickii) differ most in coloration, while the western (spilurus) is intermediate in this respect, but with a longer bill than in the other two. The peculiarities of the three forms are expressed on page 141.

Thryothorus bewickii, var. bewickii, BONAP.

BEWICK’S WREN; LONG-TAILED HOUSE WREN.

Troglodytes bewickii, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 96, pl. xviii.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 120, pl. cxviii. Thryothorus bewickii, BONAP. List, 1838.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 363. _Telmatodytes bewickii_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 78. Thryothorus bewickii, var. bewickii, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 126.

SP. CHAR. Above dark rufous-brown; rump and middle tail-feathers sometimes a little paler, and very slightly tinged with gray, and together with the exposed surface of secondaries distinctly barred with dusky. Beneath soiled plumbeous-whitish; flanks brown. Crissum banded; ground-color of quills and tail-feathers brownish-black. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.50. Length from nostril, 39; along gape, 70.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States.

HABITS. This interesting species of Wren was first met with by Audubon in Louisiana. A number of individuals were observed at the time, but nothing of its history was known for several years afterward. In shape, color, and habits it most resembled the Carolina Wren, but was less rapid in movement, and not so lively. Fourteen years later Dr. Bachman again met with birds of this species, in 1835, at the Salt Sulphur Springs of Virginia. They comprised a family of two parents and five young, nearly full grown. Their notes were like those of the Winter Wren, neither louder nor more connected. They seemed of restless habit, creeping actively among fences, stumps, and logs. One ascended an oak, nearly to the top, in the manner of a Creeper. This species proved to be quite common in that locality, and to be the only Wren abundant among the mountains. Dr. Gibbs detected it near Columbia, S. C., and Dr. Trudeau afterwards found it quite common in Louisiana.

It was first observed breeding by Professor Baird in Carlisle, Penn., in 1844. In all respects the nests and their location corresponded with those of the common Wren. Dr. Woodhouse found it very abundant in the Indian Territory, and describes its habits as similar to those of other Wrens. Lieutenant Couch observed this Wren at Santa Rosalio in Mexico, early in March. It was seeking its food among the low prickly-pears. He was informed that they deposited their eggs wherever they could do so without making much of a nest, inside the cabins under the rafters, but in New Leon he found one of its nests quite elaborately constructed in a thatched roof. He describes the song as quite varied, and one of the sweetest that he heard in that country.

The late Dr. Gerhardt of Varnell’s Station, Ga., met with this species among the mountainous portions of Northern Georgia, where it generally nested in holes in stumps. In one instance the nest was constructed five inches in length, and four in diameter, with a cavity two inches in depth, and the walls of great proportionate thickness, made externally of coarse roots, finer on the inside, and lined with various kinds of animal fur and with feathers. Both birds worked together in constructing their nest, beginning on the 11th of April, and on the 27th of the same month this contained seven eggs. The nest was not covered at the top, in the manner of the Carolina Wren. In the following season another pair commenced building their nest in his bed, in a log-house. Driven from these impossible quarters, they tried the same experiment in various other parts of the house, but only to abandon it, and at last finished by making a successful attempt in the hay-loft. Their visits to that portion of Georgia, he informed me, were irregular and only occasional. In 1859 he had not met with any birds of this species for the space of five years.

The eggs measure .67 by .50 of an inch in their average proportions, resembling somewhat those of the Carolina Wren, but having a lighter ground, with fewer and finer markings of slate and reddish-brown. The ground-color is of a pinkish-white.

Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of these birds in the winter months, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, probably of the var. leucogaster.

We learn from Mr. Ridgway that in Southern Illinois (as far north as latitude 38° 20′ 20″) this Wren is very abundant, and the most familiar species of the family. In certain localities (as in the Valley of the Wabash) it entirely replaces the Troglodytes ædon, the latter being wholly unknown. In its habits it is even more familiar than that species, always preferring the out-buildings, even in large towns, to the neighborhood of the woods, and still further increases its attractions by possessing a charming song, a real song, of sweet notes finely modulated, and uttered, generally, as the bird perches upon a fence or the stable roof, its head thrown back, and its long tail pendent as it sings. The confused, gabbling sputter of T. ædon, uttered as it pauses just for an instant in its restless hopping through the ivy, cannot be compared to the chant of liquid musical notes of this species, which resembles more nearly, both in modulation and power, that of the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), though far superior to it. On ordinary occasions the note of Bewick’s Wren is a soft, low plit, uttered as the bird hops about the fence or stable, its long tail carried upright, and jerked to one side at each hop. In its movements it is altogether more deliberate and less restless than the T. ludovicianus, or Troglodytes ædon, neither of which it much resembles in motion, and still less in notes. The nest of this Wren is usually built about the out-houses, a mortise-hole or some well-concealed corner being generally selected. Old stables and ash-hoppers are especially frequented as nesting-places. Mr. Ridgway found one in the bottom of the conical portion of a quail-net which was hung up in a shed, and another in a piece of stove-pipe which lay horizontally in the garret of a smoke-house; another rested upon a flat board over the door of an out-house, while a fourth was placed behind the weather-boarding of a building. The nest is generally very bulky, though the bulk is regulated to suit the size of the cavity in which the nest is placed. Its materials are usually sticks, straws, coarse feathers, fine chips, etc., exteriorly fastened together with masses of spider’s-webs, the lining being of finer and more downy materials, generally soft spider’s-webs, tow, and especially the downy feathers of barnyard fowls.

Thryothorus bewickii, var. leucogaster, GOULD.

Troglodytes leucogastra, GOULD, P. Z. S. 1836, 89 (Tamaulipas).— BON. Notes Delattre, 1854, 43. ? Thryothorus bewickii, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 372 (Oaxaca). Thryothorus bewickii, var. leucogaster, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 127.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-brown; rump and middle tail-feathers brownish-ash, the former nearly pure ash; without appreciable bars; bars on secondaries obsolete. Beneath, including inside of wing, pure white, with little or no brownish on the sides. Crissum banded; ground-color of the quills and tail-feathers grayish-brown. Size of var. bewickii.

HAB. Southern borders of United States, into Mexico.

HABITS. Nothing is on record of the habits of this variety as distinguished from var. bewickii.

Thryothorus bewickii, var. spilurus, VIGORS.

Troglodytes spilurus, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 18, pl. iv, fig. 1 (California). Thryothorus spilurus, COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 69. Troglodytes bewickii, NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rept. VI, IV, 1857, 80.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, IB. XII, II, 1860, 190. Thryothorus bewickii, SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 22, no. 141 (in part). Thryothorus bewickii, var. spilurus, BAIRD, Rev. 126.

SP. CHAR. Similar to bewickii in color, the bill considerably longer. Length from nostril, .50, gape, .81, instead of .39 and .70.

HAB. Pacific slope of United States.

Young birds from all the localities differ from adults merely in having the feathers of the throat and breast very narrowly and inconspicuously edged with blackish.

HABITS. This variety of Bewick’s Wren is exclusively an inhabitant of the Western coast. According to Dr. Cooper, they abound throughout the wooded parts of California and northward, frequenting the densest forests as well as the open groves. During the winter they were found in the vicinity of Fort Mojave, but left in April, probably for the mountains. They also winter throughout the mild regions towards the coast as far north as Puget Sound. They are known as Mocking-Wrens, though Dr. Cooper thinks they do not really imitate other birds, but rather have a great variety of their own notes, some of which resemble those of other birds and are well calculated to deceive one unaccustomed to them. He was often led to search in vain for some new form, which he thought he heard singing, only to find it to be a bird of this species. Near San Diego, in April, 1862, he discovered one of its nests built in a low bush, only three feet from the ground. It was quite open above, formed of twigs, grass, etc., and contained five eggs just ready to hatch, described as white with brown specks near the larger end.

Messrs. Nuttall and Townsend observed these birds in the marshy meadows of the Wahlamet, accompanied by their young, as early as May. They seemed to have all the habits of Marsh Wrens. Drs. Gambel and Heermann, who observed them in California, describe them as keeping in low bushes and piles of brush, as well as about old dead trees and logs, over and around which they were flitting with the greatest activity, uttering, when approached, the usual grating scold of the Wrens.

In Washington Territory Dr. Cooper states that this and the Winter Wren are among the few birds that enliven the long rainy season with their songs, which were as constantly heard in the dullest weather as in the sunny spring. The young broods make their first appearance there in June. Dr. Suckley found this species very abundant at Puget Sound, where it is a constant resident throughout the year. On sunny days in January and in February it was found among low thickets in company with the smaller species. At this season they were very tame, allowing a person to approach them without apparent fear. He speaks of the voice of the male as being harsh and loud during the breeding-season, and not unlike that of the common House Wren.

GENUS TROGLODYTES, VIEILL.

Troglodytes, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52. (Type, Troglodytes ædon.)

The characters of this genus are sufficiently indicated in the synopsis on page 131. They come very close to those of Thryothorus, the nostrils, especially, being linear and overhung by a scale. In this respect both differ from Thryophilus of Middle America. The bill is shorter or not longer than the head; straight, slender, and without notch. The tail is graduated, and shorter than the much rounded wings, the feathers narrow. The light superciliary line of Thryothorus is almost entirely wanting.

Species and Varieties.

a. Troglodytes.

Tail and wings about equal.

T. ædon. Beneath grayish-white. Crissum and flanks distinctly barred. Wing-coverts spotted with whitish. Dark bars of tail about half the width of their interspaces.

First primary nearly half the longest. Color above dark-brown, rufous towards tail. Hab. Eastern Province United States … var. ædon.

Wing similar. Above paler brown. Hab. Eastern Mexico, from Rio Grande southward … var. aztecus.

First primary half the second. Above paler brown. Hab. Middle and Western Province United States … var. parkmanni.

b. Anorthura.

Tail very short; only about two thirds the wing.

T. hyemalis.

a. Size of ædon except for shorter tail, wing about 2.00; culmen very straight. Hab. Aleutian Islands … var. alascensis.

b. Much smaller than ædon, wing about 1.75.

Pale reddish-brown; dusky bars of upper parts with whitish spots or interspaces. Hab. Eastern Province United States; Cordova? … var. hyemalis.

Dark rufous above and below; upper parts with few or almost no whitish spots. Hab. Pacific Province North America … var. pacificus.

Troglodytes ædon, VIEILL.

HOUSE WREN; WOOD WREN.

Troglodytes ædon, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52, pl. cvii.— IB. Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819, 506.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 366; Rev. 138.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 22, no. 145.—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass. Hylemathrous ædon, Cab. Jour. 1860, 407. _Sylvia domestica_, WILSON, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 129, pl. vii. _Troglodytes fulvus_, NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 422. ? Troglodytes americanus, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 452; V, 1839, 469, pl. clxxix.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 123, pl. cxix.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 368; Rev. I, 141. Other figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. lxxxiii.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. cxx.

SP. CHAR. Tail and wings about equal. Bill shorter than the head. Above reddish-brown, darker towards the head, brighter on the rump. The feathers everywhere, except on the head and neck, barred with dusky; obscurely so on the back, and still less on the rump. All the tail-feathers barred from the base; the contrast more vivid on the exterior one. Beneath pale fulvous-white, tinged with light brownish across the breast; the posterior parts rather dark brown, obscurely banded. Under tail-coverts whitish, with dusky bars. An indistinct line over the eye, eyelids, and loral region, whitish. Cheeks brown, streaked with whitish. Length, 4.90; wing, 2.08; tail, 2.00.

HAB. Eastern Province of the United States, from Atlantic to the Missouri River.

In the Review of American Birds (p. 139), I have established a variety, aztecus, to embrace specimens from Mexico paler than ædon, and with a brownish tinge on the breast, and smaller size.

There can scarcely be any doubt that the T. americanus of Audubon is nothing more than this species in dark, accidentally soiled plumage (from charcoal of burnt trees, etc.).

[Line drawing: Troglodytes ædon. 28941]

HABITS. The common House Wren is found throughout the United States, from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, though it is not everywhere equally abundant. Thus, while in some parts of Massachusetts it occurs in considerable numbers every year, in other portions not twenty miles distant it is never seen. West of the Rocky Mountains it is replaced by Parkman’s Wren, which is rather a race than a distinct species, the differences in plumage being very slight, and in habits, nest, and eggs not appreciable, though Dr. Cooper thinks there is a difference in their song. Another race or a closely allied species, T. aztecus, is found in Mexico, near the borders of the United States, but does not have an extended range. It is found in the winter in Guatemala.

This species does not appear to be found beyond the southwestern portion of Maine and the southern portions of New Hampshire and Vermont. It makes its first appearance in Washington early in April, and for a while is very abundant, visiting very familiarly the public grounds of the capitol, private gardens, out-buildings, and the eaves of dwellings. It does not appear in the New England States until after the first week in May, and leaves for the South about the last of September. It is not observed in any portion of the United States after the first of November.

The hollows of decaying trees, crevices in rocks, or the centre of meshes of interlacing vines, are their natural resorts. These they readily relinquish for the facilities offered in the society of man. They are bold, sociable, confiding birds, and will enter into the closest relations with those who cultivate their acquaintance, building their nests from preference under the eaves of houses, in corners of the wood-shed, a clothes-line box, olive-jars, martin-boxes, open gourds, an old hat, the skull of an ox placed on a pole, the pocket of a carriage, or even the sleeve of an old coat left hanging in an out-building. In the spring of 1855 a pair of these Wrens nested within the house, and over the door of the room of the late Robert Kennicott, where they raised their broods in safety. They built a second nest on a shelf in the same room, which they entered through a knot-hole in the unceiled wall. At first shy, they soon became quite tame, and did not regard the presence of members of the family. The male bird was more shy than his mate, and though equally industrious in collecting insects would rarely bring them nearer than the knot-hole, where the female would receive them. The female with her brood was destroyed by a cat, but this did not deter the male bird from appearing the following season with another mate and building their nest in the same place. Another instance of a singular selection of a breeding-place has been given by the same authority. Dr. Kennicott, the father of Robert, a country physician, drove an old two-wheeled open gig, in the back of which was a box, a foot in length by three inches in width, open at the top. In this a pair of Wrens insisted, time after time, in building their nest. Though removed each time the vehicle was used, the pair for a long while persisted in their attempts to make use of this place, at last even depositing their eggs on the bare bottom of the box. It was two or three weeks before they finally desisted from their vain attempts.

Sometimes this bird will build a nest in a large cavity, holding perhaps a bushel. Before the cup of the nest is completed, the birds will generally endeavor to fill the entire space with sticks and various other convenient substances. Where the entrance is unnecessarily large they will generally contract it by building about it a barricade of sticks, leaving only a small entrance. In the midst of these masses of material they construct a compact, cup-shaped, inner nest, hemispherical in shape, composed of finer materials and warmly lined with the fur of small quadrupeds, and with soft feathers. If the eggs are taken as the female is depositing them, she will continue to lay quite a long while. In one instance eighteen were taken, after which the birds were let alone and raised a brood of seven.

During the months of May and June the male is a constant and remarkable singer. His song is loud, clear, and shrill, given with great animation and rapidity, the performer evincing great jealousy of any interruption, often leaving off abruptly in the midst of his song to literally “pitch in” upon any rival who may presume to compete with him.

If a cat or any unwelcome visitor approach the nest, angry vociferations succeed to his sprightly song, and he will swoop in rapid flights across the head or back of the intruder, even at the apparent risk of his life.

Where several pairs occupy the same garden, their contests are frequent, noisy, and generally quite amusing. In their fights with other birds for the possession of a coveted hollow, their skill at barricading frequently enables the Wrens to keep triumphant possession against birds much more powerful than themselves.

Their food is exclusively insectivorous, and of a class of destructive insects that render them great benefactors to the farmer. Mr. Kennicott ascertained that a single pair of Wrens carried to their young about a thousand insects in a single day.

The young, when they leave their nest, keep together for some time, moving about, an interesting, sociable, and active group, under the charge of their mother, but industrious in supplying their own wants.

The eggs of the Wren, usually from seven to nine in number, are of a rounded-oval shape, at times nearly as broad as long. Their ground-color is white, but they are so thickly studded with markings and fine spots of reddish-brown, with a few occasional points of purplish-slate, as to conceal their ground. Their shape varies from nearly spherical to an oblong-oval, some measuring .60 by .55 of an inch, others with the same breadth having a length of .67 of an inch.

Under the name of Troglodytes americanus, or Wood Wren, Mr. Audubon figured and described as a distinct species what is probably only a somewhat larger and darker form of the present species, hardly distinct enough to be treated even as a race. Mr. Audubon met with an individual near Eastport in 1832. The young were following their parents through the tangled recesses of a dark forest, in search of food. Others were obtained in the same part of Maine, near Dennisville, where Mr. Lincoln informed Mr. Audubon that this bird was the common Wren of the neighborhood, and that they bred in hollow logs in the woods, but seldom approached farm-houses.

In the winter following, at Charleston, S. C., Mr. Audubon again met individuals of this supposed species, showing the same habits as in Maine, remaining in thick hedges, along ditches in the woods, not far from plantations. The notes are described as differing considerably from those of the House Wren. It has not been seen by Mr. Boardman, though residing in the region where it is said to be the common Wren. Professor Verrill mentions it as a rare bird in Western Maine.

Mr. Charles S. Paine, of Randolph, Vt., is the only naturalist who has met with what he supposes were its nest and eggs. The following is his account, communicated by letter.

“The Wood Wren comes among us in the spring about the 10th or 15th of April, and sings habitually as it skips among the brush and logs and under the roots and stumps of trees. In one instance I have known it to make its appearance in midwinter, and to be about the house and barn some time. It is only occasionally that they spend the summer here (Central Vermont). The nest from which I obtained the egg you now have, I found about the first of July, just as the young were about to fly. There were five young birds and one egg. The nest was built on the hanging bark of a decaying beech-log, close under the log. A great quantity of moss and rotten wood had been collected and filled in around the nest, and a little round hole left for the entrance. The nest was lined with a soft, downy substance. I have no doubt that they sometimes commence to breed as early as the middle of May, as I have seen their young out in early June.”

Mr. Paine discredits the statement that they build their nests in holes in the ground. The egg referred to by Mr. Paine is oval in shape, slightly more pointed at one end, measuring .75 of an inch in length by .53 in breadth. The ground is a dead chalky-white, over which are sprinkled a few very fine dots of a light yellowish-brown, slightly more numerous at the larger end. This egg, while it bears some resemblance to that of the Winter Wren, is totally unlike that of the House Wren.

Troglodytes ædon, var. parkmanni, AUD.

PARKMAN’S WREN; WESTERN WOOD WREN.

Troglodytes parkmanni, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 310.—IB. Synopsis, 1839, 76.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 133, pl. cxxii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 367; Rev. 140.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1860, 191 (nest).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 23, no. 146.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 71. Troglodytes sylvestris, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. III, 1846, 113 (California, quotes erroneously AUD. _T. americanus_).

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States. East to the Missouri River. Western Arizona, COUES.

Although the differences between the eastern and western House Wrens, as stated in the Birds of North America, are not very appreciable, yet a comparison of an extensive series shows that they can hardly be considered as identical. The general color of parkmanni above is paler and grayer, and there is little or none of the rufous of the lower back and rump. The bars on the upper surface are rather more distinct. The under parts are more alike, as, while ædon sometimes has flanks and crissum strongly tinged with rufous, other specimens are as pale as in T. parkmanni.

Perhaps the most appreciable differences between the two are to be found in the size and proportions of wing and tail. The wing in parkmanni is quite decidedly longer than in ædon, measuring, in males, 2.12 to 2.15, instead of 2.00 to 2.05. This is due not so much to a larger size as to a greater development of the primaries. The first quill is equal to or barely more than half the second in parkmanni; and the difference between the longest primary and the tenth amounts to .32 of an inch, instead of about .20 in ædon, where the first quill is nearly half the length of the third, and much more than half the length of the second.

HABITS. This western form, hardly distinguishable from the common House Wren of the Eastern States, if recognized as a distinct species, is its complete analogue in regard to habits, nest, eggs, etc. It was first obtained by Townsend on the Columbia River, and described by Audubon in 1839. It has since been observed in various parts of the country, from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Coast, and from Cape St. Lucas to Oregon.

Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of Washington Territory, speaks of this Wren as common about Puget Sound, where it appeared to be much less familiar than our common Wren, though its habits and song seemed to be very similar. It there frequented chiefly the vicinity of woods and piles of logs, neither seeking nor dwelling in the vicinity of houses. It arrives there about the 20th of April. As observed about Vancouver in 1853, its song appeared to Dr. Cooper different from that of the T. ædon. He found one of their nests built in a horse’s skull that had been stuck upon a fence. Dr. Suckley, who observed these birds about Fort Steilacoom, describes their voice as harsh and unmusical.

Dr. Cooper has since observed them in California, and in the winter, in the Colorado Valley, where they roosted at night under the eaves of the garrison buildings. They make their appearance at San Francisco as early as March 16, and nest at San Diego in April. He has found their nests in hollow trees at various heights, from five to forty feet, all composed of a floor and barricade of long dry twigs, grass, and bark, loosely placed, but so interwoven as to leave only just space for the birds to squeeze in over them. They are warmly lined with a large quantity of feathers. Their eggs he gives as from five to nine in number.

The late Mr. Hepburn has furnished more full and exact information in regard to this species. We give it in his own words.

“The T. parkmanni is the common wren of Vancouver Island, far more so than of California, where I have found the Bewick’s Wren (T. bewickii) much more numerous. Parkman’s Wren builds its nest in hollow trees in Vancouver Island, about the middle of May, forming it of small sticks laid at the bottom of the hole, neatly and comfortably lining it on the inside with feathers that arch over the eggs. It will also readily avail itself of any similar and equally convenient cavity. I have known these birds to build under the roof of a frame house, entering by a hole between the topmost board and the shingles; also in a hole in a gate-post, through which gate people were continually passing; and also over a doorway, getting in by a loose board, in a place where the nest could be reached by the hand. In 1852 I put a cigar-box, with a hole cut in one end, between the forks of a tree in a garden at Victoria. A pair of Wrens speedily took possession of it and formed their nest therein, laying seven eggs, the first on the 18th of May. The eggs of this Wren are white, thickly freckled with pink spots, so much so in some specimens as to give a general pink appearance to the egg itself, but forming a zone of a darker hue near the larger end. They are .81 of an inch in length by .50 in width.”

Their eggs resemble those of the T. ædon so as to be hardly distinguishable, yet on comparing several sets of each there seem to be these constant differences. The spots of the western species are finer, less marked, more numerous, and of a pinker shade of reddish-brown. The eggs, too, range a little smaller in size, though exhibiting great variations. In one nest the average measurement of its seven eggs is .60 by .50, that of another set of the same number .70 by .50 of an inch.

In all respects, habits, manners, and notes, Parkman’s Wren is a perfect counterpart of the eastern House Wren. In the country east of the Sierra Nevada it almost wholly replaces the western Bewick’s Wren (Thryothorus bewickii, var. spilurus), and inhabits any wooded localities, as little preference being given to the cottonwoods of the river valleys as to the aspen groves high up in the mountains.

Troglodytes parvulus, var. hyemalis, VIEILL.

WINTER WREN.

Sylvia troglodytes, WILSON, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 139, pl. viii, f. 6. Troglodytes hyemalis, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819, 514.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 430, pl. ccclx.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 128, pl. cxxi.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 369; Rev. 144.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 290 (Cordova, Mex.).—IB. Catal. 1861, 23, no. 152.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 73.

SP. CHAR. Bill very straight, slender, and conical; shorter than the head. Tail considerably shorter than the wings, which reach to its middle. Upper parts reddish-brown; becoming brighter to the rump and tail; everywhere, except on the head and upper part of the back, with transverse bars of dusky and of lighter. Scapulars and wing-coverts with spots of white. Beneath pale reddish-brown, barred on the posterior half of the body with dusky and whitish, and spotted with white more anteriorly; outer web of primaries similarly spotted with pale brownish-white. An indistinct pale line over the eye. Length, about 4 inches; wing, 1.66; tail, 1.26.

HAB. North America generally. South to Cordova, Mex.

Western specimens may be separated as a variety pacificus (BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 145), based on the much darker colors and the almost entire absence of the whitish spots among the dark bars. The under parts are more rufous; the tarsi are shorter, the claws larger, the bill straighter and more slender.

The Winter Wren is very closely related to the common Wren (T. parvulus, KOCH) of Europe, so much so, in fact, that the two almost seem to be varieties of one species. The differences, as shown in a large series from both continents, are the following: In T. parvulus there is a tendency to more uniform shades; and the prevailing tint anteriorly, beneath, is a pale yellowish-ash, almost immaculate, instead of brownish-ochraceous, showing minute specks and darker edges to the feathers. In extreme specimens of T. parvulus the bars even on the tail and wings (except primaries, where they are always distinct) are very obsolete, while on the lower parts they are confined to the flanks and crissum. Sometimes, however, specimens of the two are found which are almost undistinguishable from each other. In fact, it is only by taking the plainer European birds and comparing them with the darker American examples from the northwest coast, that the difference between T. parvulus and T. hyemalis is readily appreciable.

HABITS. The Winter Wren, nowhere very abundant, seems to be distributed over the whole of North America. Hardly distinguishable from the common Wren of Europe, it can scarcely be considered as distinct. The habits of our species certainly seem to be very different from those assigned to the European bird, which in England appears to be as common and as familiar a bird as even the Redbreast. The small size and retiring habits of our species, as well as its unfrequent occurrence, and only in wild places, combine to keep its history in doubt and obscurity. It is supposed to be northern in its distribution during the breeding-season, yet only a single specimen was obtained by Sir John Richardson, and that on the northern shores of Lake Huron.

On the Pacific coast Dr. Cooper regarded the Winter Wren as the most common species in the forests of Washington Territory, where it frequented even the densest portions, and where its lively song was almost the only sound to be heard. It was most commonly seen in winter, retiring in summer to the mountains to breed. He observed young birds on the Coast Mountains in July.

Dr. Suckley also states that this Wren was found at Fort Steilacoom more abundantly in the winter than any other species. It was very unsuspicious, allowing a very near approach. The dense fir forests, among fallen logs, were its usual places of resort during the long, damp, and dreary winters of Oregon. Dr. Suckley regarded the habits of this species and those of the Parkman Wren as nearly identical. Mr. Bischoff obtained four specimens in Sitka.

Mr. Audubon found this species at Eastport, on the 9th of May, in full song and quite abundant. A month later he found them equally plentiful in the Magdalen Islands, and afterwards, about the middle of July, in Labrador. He described its song as excelling that of any bird of its size with which he was acquainted, being full of cadence, energy, and melody, and as truly musical. Its power of continuance is said to be very surprising.

The characteristics of the Winter Wren are those of the whole family. They move with rapidity and precision from place to place, in short, sudden hops and flights, bending downward and keeping their tails erect. They will run under a large root, through a hollow stump or log, or between the interstices of rocks, more in the manner of a mouse than of a bird.

The writer has several times observed these Wrens on the steep sides of Mount Washington, in the month of June, moving about in active unrest, disappearing and reappearing among the broken masses of granite with which these slopes are strewn. This was even in the most thickly wooded portions. Though they evidently had nests in the neighborhood, they could not be discovered. They were unsuspicious, could be approached within a few feet, but uttered querulous complaints if one persisted in searching too long in the places they entered.

This Wren, as I am informed by Mr. Boardman, is a common summer resident near Calais, Me.

Mr. Audubon met with its nest in a thick forest in Pennsylvania. He followed a pair of these birds until they disappeared in the hollow of a protuberance, covered with moss and lichens, resembling the excrescences often seen on forest trees. The aperture was perfectly rounded and quite smooth. He put in his finger and felt the pecking of the bird’s bill and heard its querulous cry. He was obliged to remove the parent bird in order to see the eggs, which were six in number. The parent birds made a great clamor as he was examining them. The nest was seven inches in length and four and a half in breadth. Its walls were composed of mosses and lichens, and were nearly two inches in thickness. The cavity was very warmly lined with the fur of the American hare and a few soft feathers. Another nest found on the Mohawk, in New York, was similar, but smaller, and built against the side of a rock near its bottom.

Mr. William F. Hall met with the nest and eggs of this bird at Camp Sebois in the central eastern portion of Maine. It was built in an unoccupied log-hut, among the fir-leaves and mosses in a crevice between the logs. It was large and bulky, composed externally of mosses and lined with the fur of hedge-hogs, and the feathers of the spruce partridge and other birds. It was in the shape of a pouch, and the entrance was neatly framed with fine pine sticks. The eggs were six in number, and somewhat resembled those of the Parus atricapillus. The female was seen and fully identified.

In this nest, which measured five and three quarters inches by five in breadth, the size, solidity, and strength, in view of the diminutive proportions of its tiny architect, are quite remarkable. The walls were two inches in thickness and very strongly impacted and interwoven. The cavity was an inch and a quarter wide and four inches deep. Its hemlock framework had been made of green materials, and their strong and agreeable odor pervaded the structure. The eggs measured .65 by .48 of an inch, and were spotted with a bright reddish-brown and a few pale markings of purplish-slate, on a pure white ground. Compared with the eggs of the European Wren their eggs are larger, less oval in shape, and the spots much more marked in their character and distinctness.

Troglodytes parvulus, var. alascensis, BAIRD.

ALASKA WREN.

Troglodytes alascensis, BAIRD, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sc. I, ii, 315, pl. xxx, fig. 3, 1869.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—FRIESCH, Ornith. N. W. Amerikas, 1872, 30.

SP. CHAR. ♂ ad., 61,329, Amaknak Island, Unalaschka, Oct. 21, 1871; W. H. Dall. Above umber-brown, more rufescent on the wings, rump, and tail; secondaries and tail-feathers showing indistinct transverse dusky bars; primaries about equally barred with blackish and dilute umber or brownish-white; middle-coverts tipped with a small white dot, preceded by a black one. Lower part, including a rather distinct superciliary stripe, pale ochraceous-umber; sides, flanks, abdomen, and crissum distinctly barred with dusky and whitish on a rusty ground; crissum with sagittate spots of white. Wing, 2.20; tail, 1.60; culmen, .65; tarsus, .75.

HAB. Aleutian and Pribylow Islands, Alaska.

The specimen above described represents about the average of a large series obtained on Amaknak Island by Mr. Dall. They vary somewhat among themselves as regards dimensions, but all are very much larger than any specimens of T. hyemalis, from which it also differs in longer, straighter, and more subulate bill (the gonys slightly ascending). The type specimen from St. George’s Island was immature, and we embrace the opportunity of giving the description of an adult sent down with several others in the autumn of 1871 by Mr. Dall from Unalaschka.

This form bears the same relation to T. hyemalis that Melospiza unalaschkensis does to M. melodia; T. pacificus, like M. rufina, being an intermediate form.

HABITS. Of this new variety, the Alaska Wren, but little is as yet known as to its personal history. Mr. Dall states that it is found in abundance all the year round on St. George’s Island, and that it breeds in May, building a nest of moss in the crevices of the rocks, and, according to the Aleuts, lays six eggs. Mr. Dall subsequently found it quite common at Unalaschka in the summer of 1871.

GENUS CISTOTHORUS, CABAN.

Cistothorus, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 77. (Type, Troglodytes stellaris.) Telmatodytes, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 78. (Type, _Certhia palustris_.) Thryothorus, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816, according to G. R. Gray.

[Line drawing: Cistothorus palustris. 1454 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill about as long as the head or much shorter, much compressed, not notched, gently decurved from the middle; the gonys slightly concave or straight. Toes reaching to the end of the tail. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Hind toe longer than the lateral, shorter than the middle. Lateral toes about equal. Hind toe longer than or equal to its digit. Wings rather longer than the tail, all the feathers of which are much graduated; the lateral only two thirds the middle. The feathers narrow. Back black, conspicuously streaked with white.

Of this genus there are two sections, Cistothorus proper and Telmatodytes, the diagnoses of which have already been given. The two North American species present the feature, unique among our Wrens, of white streaks on the back.

A. Cistothorus. Bill half length of head. No white superciliary streak. Head and rump and back streaked with white. Tail dusky, barred with brown … C. stellaris.

B. Telmatodytes. Bill length of head. A white superciliary stripe. Back alone streaked with white. Tail-feathers black, barred with whitish … C. palustris.

Cistothorus stellaris, CABAN.

SHORT-BILLED MARSH-WREN.

Troglodytes stellaris, “LICHT.” NAUMANN, Vögel Deutschlands, III, 1823, 724 (Carolina). Cistothorus stellaris, CAB. Mus. Hein. 77.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 365; Rev. 146.—SCLATER, Catal. 22, no. 142 (in part). Troglodytes brevirostris, NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 436.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 427, pl. clxxv.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 138, pl. cxxiv. C. elegans, SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 8.

SP. CHAR. Bill very short, scarcely half the length of the head. Wing and tail about equal. Hinder part of the crown and the scapular and interscapular region of the back and rump almost black, streaked with white. Tail dusky, the feathers barred throughout with brown (the color grayish on the under surface). Beneath white; the sides, upper part of breast, and under tail-coverts reddish-brown. Upper parts, with the exceptions mentioned, reddish-brown. Length, 4.50; wing, 1.75; tail, 1.75.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, west to Loup Fork of Platte.

There is a closely allied variety from Mexico and Guatemala (C. elegans, SCLATER & SALVIN, Pr. Z. S., 1859, 8) which differs in the characters stated below.

White dorsal streaks extending to the rump, which is conspicuously banded with brown, and somewhat spotted with whitish. Beneath, including lining of wings, light cinnamon-brown; throat and belly paler, almost white; sides and crissum very obsoletely barred with darker, and faintly spotted with whitish. Feathers of jugulum like sides, but with the color obscured by the paler edges. Tarsus, .65 long. Hab. Eastern Province of United States … C. stellaris.

Streaks on back confined to interscapular region; rump and upper tail-coverts almost plain reddish-brown. Beneath much paler than in stellaris, without any appreciable indication of bars or spots on sides and crissum, or of the fulvous of the jugular feathers. Inside of wings snowy-white. Tarsus, .72 long. Hab. Mexico and Guatemala; Brazil? … C. elegans.

The differences between these two varieties are just barely appreciable when specimens of the two, of corresponding seasons, are compared. Two Mexican examples (elegans) differ more from each other than one does from North American specimens; because one (a typical specimen received from Salvin) is in the worn, faded, midsummer plumage, and the other in the perfect autumnal dress. Besides the longer tarsi of these Mexican birds, their tails, and even their bills, are longer than seen in North American skins. But while these differences between the North American and Mexican birds are just appreciable, there is one from Brazil (51,017, Sr. Don Fred. Albuquerque) which is exactly intermediate between these two varieties in color, while in size it is even smaller than the North American ones, measuring as follows: wing, 1.60; tail, 1.60; culmen, .45, tarsus, .61.

Even if recognizable as belonging to different varieties, these specimens are certainly all referable to one species.

HABITS. The Short-billed Marsh Wren is very irregularly distributed throughout the United States, being found from Georgia to the British Provinces, and from the Atlantic to the Upper Missouri. It is nowhere abundant, and in many large portions of intervening territory has never been found.

It is exclusively an inhabitant of low, fresh-water marshes, open swamps, and meadows, is never found on high ground, and is very shy and difficult of approach. It makes its first appearance in Massachusetts early in May, and leaves early in September. In winter it has been found in all the Gulf States, from Florida to Texas.

According to Nuttall, this Wren has a lively and quaint song, delivered earnestly and as if in haste, and at short intervals, either from a tuft of sedge or from a low bush on the edge of a marsh. When approached, the song becomes harsher and more hurried, and rises into an angry and petulant cry. In the early part of the season the male is quite lively and musical. These Wrens spend their time chiefly in the long, rank grass of the swamps and meadows searching for insects, their favorite food.

Their nest is constructed in the midst of a tussock of coarse high grass, the tops of which are ingeniously interwoven into a coarse and strong covering, spherical in shape and closed on every side, except one small aperture left for an entrance. The strong wiry grass of the tussock is also interwoven with finer materials, making the whole impervious to the weather. The inner nest is composed of grasses and finer sedges, and lined with soft, vegetable down. The eggs are nine in number, pure white, and rather small for the bird. They are exceedingly delicate and fragile, more so than is usual even in the eggs of Humming-Birds. They are of an oval shape, and measure .60 by .45 of an inch.

Mr. Nuttall conjectured that occasionally two females occupied the same nest, and states that he has known the male bird to busy itself in constructing several nests, not more than one of which would be used. As these birds rear a second brood, it is probable that these nests are built from an instinctive desire to have a new one in readiness for the second brood. This peculiarity has been noticed in other Wrens, where the female sometimes takes possession of the new abode, lays and sits upon her second set of eggs before her first brood are ready to fly, which are left to the charge of her mate.

Mr. Audubon found this Wren breeding in Texas. Dr. Trudeau met them on the marshes of the Delaware River, and their nest and eggs have been sent to us from the Koskonong marshes of Wisconsin. It has also been found in the marshes of Connecticut River, near Hartford; and in Illinois Mr. Kennicott found it among the long grasses bordering on the prairie sloughs.

In Massachusetts I have occasionally met with their nests, but only late in July, when the rank grass of the low meadows has been cut. These were probably their second brood. The nest being built close to the ground, and made of the living grasses externally, they are not distinguishable from the unoccupied tussocks that surround them.

Cistothorus palustris, BAIRD.

LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN.

Var. palustris.

Certhia palustris, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 58, pl. xii, fig. 4 (Penna). Troglodytes palustris, BON. Obs. Wils. 1824, no. 66.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 500, pl. c.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 135, pl. cxxiii.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Godthaab, Greenland). Thryothorus palustris, NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 439. _Cistothorus (Telmatodytes) palustris_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 364; Rev. 147.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 22. Thryothorus arundinaceus, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819, 58 (not Trog. arundinaceus, VIEILLOT). Thryothorus arundinaceus, BON. Consp. 1850, 220. Telmatodytes arundinaceus, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 78.

HAB. Eastern United States, from the Missouri River; Greenland? REINHARDT; Mexico, and Guatemala? Cordova, SCLATER.

Var. paludicola.

Cistothorus palustris, var. paludicola, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 148. Troglodytes palustris, NEWB. P. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 80 (Pacific region). Cistothorus palustris, COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. Rep. X, II, 1859, 190 (W. T.)—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1. 1870, 75. Certhia palustris, LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. IV, 117.

SP. CHAR. Bill about as long as head. Tail and wing nearly equal. Upper parts of a dull reddish-brown, except on the crown, interscapular region, outer surface of tertials, and tail-feathers, which are almost black; the first with a median patch like the ground-color; the second with short streaks of white, extending round on the sides of the neck; the third indented with brown; the fourth barred with whitish, decreasing in amount from the outer feather, which is marked from the base to the fifth, where it is confined to the tips; the two middle feathers above like the back, and barred throughout with dusky. Beneath rather pure white, the sides and under tail-coverts of a lighter shade of brown than the back; a white streak over the eye. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.08; tail, 2.00. (1,454.)

HAB. Pacific Coast and Middle Province of United States.

In comparing a series of Marsh Wrens of eastern North America with western, we find that they differ very appreciably in certain characteristics, which may be expressed by the following diagnoses:—

Bill lengthened, equal to tarsus. Tail-coverts above and below either perfectly plain, or with very obsolete bands, reduced to obscure spots beneath. Bands on tail broken; scarcely appreciable on the middle feathers … var. palustris.

Bill shorter than tarsus. Tail-coverts distinctly banded all across. Bands on tail quite distinct; appreciable on the central feathers … var. paludicola.

The differences between these two races is much more appreciable than those between Troglodytes ædon and T. “parkmanni”; the most striking character is the much longer bill of the var. palustris.

Specimens of the var. paludicola from the interior are paler and more grayish-brown above, and have less distinct bars on the tail-coverts and tail, than in Pacific coast specimens, while on the crown the brown, instead of the black, largely predominates.

HABITS. The common Marsh Wren appears to have a nearly unrestricted range throughout North America. It occurs on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and as far north as Washington Territory on the west coast. A single specimen was procured in Greenland. It is not, however, at all common in these more northern latitudes. Mr. Drummond, of Sir John Richardson’s party, met with it in the 55th parallel on the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains and in the Saskatchewan Valley. Dr. Cooper found it early in March in the salt marshes along the coast of Washington Territory, and thinks it winters in that section. On the Eastern coast it is not common as far north as Massachusetts, a few being found at Cambridge and in Barnstable County. It is abundant near Washington, D. C., and throughout the country in all suitable locations south and west from Pennsylvania. Mr. Ridgway found it plentiful in Utah.

They frequent low marshy grounds, whether near the sea or in the interior, and build in low bushes, a few feet from the ground, a well-constructed globular nest. On the Potomac, where the river is subject to irregular tides, they are generally not less than five feet from the ground.

These nests are nearly spherical, and both in size and shape resemble a cocoanut. They are made externally of coarse sedges firmly interwoven, the interstices being cemented with clay or mud, and are impervious to the weather. A small round orifice is left on one side for entrance, the upper side of which is also protected from the rain by a projecting edge. The inside is lined with fine grasses, feathers, the down of the silk-weed, and other soft and warm vegetable substances. These birds arrive in the Middle States early in May and leave early in September. They have two broods in the season, and each time construct and occupy a new nest.

Audubon describes its nest as built among sedges, and as usually partly constructed of the sedges among which the nest is built. This is the usual manner in which the C. stellaris builds its nest, but I have never known one of the present species building in this manner, and in the localities in which they breed, near the coast, being subject to irregular heights of tides, it could not be done with safety.

The note of the Marsh Wren is a low, harsh, grating cry, neither loud nor musical, and more resembling the noise of an insect than the vocal utterances of a bird.

Their food consists chiefly of small aquatic insects, minute mollusks, and the like, and these they are very expert in securing.

The eggs of this species average .65 of an inch in length and .50 in breadth. They are, in color, in striking contrast with those of the C. stellaris, being so thickly marked with blotches and spots of a deep chocolate-brown as to be almost of one uniform color in appearance. They are of an oval shape, at times almost spheroidal, one end being but slightly more pointed than the other. They number from six to nine.

In a few instances eggs of this species from the Mississippi Valley and from California are of a light ashy-gray color, the markings being smaller and of a much lighter color.

* * * * *

We have thus completed the account of the Oscine Singing-Birds with slender bills not hooked at the end, and which have ten distinct primaries; the first or outer one, however, either quite small or else considerably shorter than the second. We now come to a series with only nine primaries, the first being entirely wanting, and the second, now the outermost, nearly or quite as long as the third. In the preliminary tables of general arrangement will be found the comparative characters of the different families of Oscines, but the diagnosis of the series referred to is presented here, as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Primaries nine; the first quill nearly as long as the second or third. Tarsi distinctly scutellate the whole length anteriorly. Bill conical, but slender or depressed, usually, except in Cærebidæ, half the length of the head; more or less bristled, or notched. Nostrils oval or rounded. Lateral toes nearly or quite equal, and shorter than the middle; the basal joint of the middle free nearly to its base externally, united for about half internally.

Motacillidæ. Bill slender. Culmen slightly concave at base. Legs long; claws but little curved. Hind toe considerably longer than the middle one; its claw much longer (twice) than the middle claw; all the claws but slightly curved. Innermost secondaries (so-called tertials) elongated, much longer than the outer secondaries; and the fifth primary emarginated at end. Nest on ground.

Sylvicolidæ. Bill rather slender, conical, or depressed. Culmen straight or convex. Hind toe shorter than the middle; the claws all much curved. Hind claw not conspicuously longer than the middle one. When the hind toe is lengthened, it is usually in the digit, not the claw. Tertials generally not longer than the secondaries, and not emarginated. Gape wide; tongue slightly split at end. Nest variously placed.

Cærebidæ. Similar to Sylvicolidæ. Bill generally longer; equal to head or more. Gape of mouth narrow; tongue generally much fringed at the end. Nest on trees.

The Tanagridæ, the Fringillidæ, and even the Icteridæ, come very near these families, as will be explained farther on, all agreeing in having the nine primaries, and in many other characters.

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FAMILY MOTACILLIDÆ.—THE WAGTAILS

CHAR. Bill slender, conical, nearly as high as wide at the base, with slight notch at the tip; the culmen slightly concave above the anterior extremity of the nostrils; short bristles at gape, which, however, do not extend forward to nostrils. Loral feathers soft and dense, but with bristly points; nasal groove filled with naked membrane, with the elongated nostrils in lower edge; the frontal feathers coming up to the aperture, but not directed forward nor overhanging it. Wings lengthened and sharp-pointed; the primaries nine (without spurious first), of which the first three to five, considerably longer than the succeeding, form the tip; the exterior secondaries generally much emarginated at the ends; the inner secondaries (so-called tertials) nearly equal to the longest primaries. The tail rather narrow, emarginate. Tarsi lengthened, scutellate anteriorly only, the hind claw usually very long, acute, and but slightly curved (except in Motacilla). Inner toe cleft almost to the very base, outer adherent for basal joint only.

The combination of naked nostrils, notched bill, and nine primaries, with the tarsi scutellate anteriorly only, will at once distinguish the Anthinæ of this family from the Alaudidæ, which they so closely resemble in coloration, habits, and lengthened hind claw. The lengthened, slightly curved hind claw, much pointed wings, emarginated secondaries,—the inner ones nearly as long as the primaries,—distinguish the family from the Sylvicolidæ, with which also it has near relationships.

Subfamilies and Genera.

Motacillinæ. Tail longer than or equal to wings; the two central feathers rather longer than lateral; the feathers broadest in middle, whence they taper gradually to the rounded tip. Colors uniform: gray, black, yellowish; without pale edges to feathers above, or streaks below.

Tail from coccyx considerably longer than the wings, doubly forked. Hind claw shorter than the toe; decidedly curved … Motacilla.

Tail from coccyx equal to the wings, slightly graduated. Hind claw decidedly longer than the toe, slightly curved … Budytes.

Anthinæ. Tail shorter than the wings, emarginate at end, the two central shorter than lateral; the feathers broadest near the end, and rounding rapidly at end. Above grayish-brown, the feathers edged with paler. Under parts streaked.

Wings much pointed and lengthened.

Hind toe and claw shorter than tarsus; outstretched toes falling short of tip of tail … Anthus.

Hind toe and claw longer than tarsus; outstretched toes extending beyond tip of tail … Neocorys.

Wings short and rounded.

Point of wings formed by outer four primaries of nearly equal length … Notiocorys.[30]

Point of wing formed by outer five primaries, the first shorter than the third … Pediocorys.[31]

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SUBFAMILY MOTACILLINÆ

GENUS MOTACILLA, LINN.

Motacilla, LINN. Syst. Nat. (Type, Motacilla alba.)

The diagnosis already given of Motacilla will serve to define it. The genus is an Old World one, represented by several species, only one of which (M. alba) is entitled to a place here from occurring in Greenland.

Motacilla alba, LINN.

WHITE WAGTAIL.

Motacilla alba, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 1766, 331.—KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europ. 1840, xlix, and 174.—DEGLAND, Orn. Europ. I, 1849, 433.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland).—NEWTON, Baring-Gould’s Iceland, 1863, App. (“rather plentiful”).—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 152. Figure: GOULD, Birds Europe, 143.

[Line drawing: Motacilla alba. 28489]

SP. CHAR. (9,410 ♂, Nürnberg). Forehead as far back as above the eyes, with sides of head and neck, white; the remaining portion of head and neck above and below to the jugulum, black; the rest of under parts white. Upper parts ashy-gray, including rump; the upper tail-coverts tinged with black. Wings with two conspicuous bands and the outer edges of the secondaries white. Tail-feathers black; the outer two white, edged with black internally. Bill and legs black. Tip of wing formed by outer three primaries; the distance between the third and fourth about one third that between the fourth and fifth. Tarsi lengthened; claw small; hind toe and claw shorter than the middle, its claw short, considerably curved, less than the toe alone; lateral toes nearly equal. Length, 7.30; wing, 3.45; tail, 3.90; bill from nostril, .37; tarsus, .86; hind toe and claw, .50.

HAB. Continental Europe, rarer in England; Iceland; Greenland (only two specimens seen); Siberia; Syria; Nubia, etc.

Motacilla yarrelli, a closely allied species, by some considered a variety only, differs in having the rump black, the ashy of the back glossed with blackish, and with the black edging of the lateral tail-feathers broader.

HABITS. The common White Wagtail of Europe claims a place in the North American fauna as an occasional visitant of Greenland, where in two instances single specimens have been procured. It is found in all portions of the European Continent, from the islands of the Mediterranean as far north as the Arctic regions. It appears in Sweden in April, and leaves there in October. Mr. Gould states also that it is found in the northern portions of Africa, and in the highlands of India. It also occurs, though less frequently, in England, where it is replaced by a local race, or an allied species, Motacilla yarrelli of Gould. The Motacilla alba is said by Temminck to inhabit meadows in the vicinity of streams of water, villages, and old houses. Its food is chiefly insects in various stages and of different kinds.

It builds its nest on the ground among the grass of the meadow, in fissures in rocks or decayed buildings, among the roots of trees, on the banks of streams, in piles of wood and fagots, or under the arch of a bridge. The nests are somewhat coarsely constructed of interwoven dry bent stems of plants and reeds, with a finer lining of the same. The eggs, six in number, are of a bluish-white ground thickly sprinkled with fine dottings, which are most usually of a blackish-brown color, sometimes ashy-gray or reddish-brown.

The Pied Wagtail, M. yarrelli, Degland and Gerbe regard as a race, and not a species. It has a limited habitat, confined to Norway, Sweden, and the British Islands, in the latter of which it is a resident throughout the year. Besides their difference in plumage, Mr. Yarrell has noticed certain differences also of habit. The alba is said not to be so partial to water as the pied species, and though often found near ploughed land, does not, like its kindred species, follow the plough in search of insects. Mr. Hewitson also states that it has a hoarser voice.

Like all the birds of this family, the Wagtail is much admired for the elegance of its form, its activity, and the airy lightness of its motions. It seems ever on the move, runs with great rapidity a quick succession of steps in pursuit of its food, and goes from place to place in short undulating flights. It has a cheerful chirping note which it utters while on the wing. When it alights, it gives a graceful fanning movement with its tail, from which it derives its name.

The Pied Wagtail, whose habits have been more closely observed by English naturalists, has frequently been seen to wade into the water in search of aquatic insects, and probably also of small fish, as in confinement they have been known to catch and feed on minnows in a fountain in the centre of their aviary. It is probable that the habits of the White Wagtail are not dissimilar.

They leave their breeding-places in October, collecting and moving in small flocks.

Their eggs measure .79 of an inch in length and .59 in breadth. The ground-color is of a grayish-white so thickly flecked with fine ash-colored and black dots as to give the entire egg the effect of a uniform dark ashen hue.

GENUS BUDYTES, CUVIER.

Budytes, CUVIER, R. A. 1817. (Type, Motacilla flava, LINN.)

[Line drawing: Budytes flava. 45912]

The recent discovery of a species of yellow-bellied Wagtail in Norton Sound, by the naturalists of the Russian Telegraph Expedition, adds another member of an Old World family to the list of American birds. Much confusion exists as to the precise number of species in the genus, some grouping together as varieties what others consider as distinct species. There is an unusual degree of variation with age, sex, and season, and this, combined with strongly marked geographical peculiarities, renders the proper solution of the problem impossible to any but those having access to large series.

Budytes flava, LINN.

YELLOW WAGTAIL.

Motacilla flava, LINN. Syst. Nat. I (1766), 33.—FINSCH & HARTLAUB, Vögel Ostafrikas, 268. Budytes flava, BON. (1838).—MIDDENDORFF, Sibirische Reise, II, ii (1852), 168.—DEGLAND & GERBE, Ornith. Europ. I (1867), 376.—BAIRD, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci. I, ii, p. 312, pl. xxx, fig. 1; 1869.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 127.—TRISTRAM, Ibis, 1871, 231.—FINSCH, 1872.

SP. CHAR. Description of specimen No. 45,912, taken at St. Michael’s, Norton Sound, June 6, 1866, by H. M. Bannister. Above, including edges of upper tail-coverts, rich olive-green, the top and sides of the head and neck pure ash-gray; chin and well-marked stripe from nostrils over the eye to the nape, white; all under parts rich yellow, tinged with olive on the sides. Stripe from corner of mouth through the eye, and involving the ear-coverts, blackish-ash. Feathers of wings and tail dark brown; the coverts and secondaries edged with olive (showing the obscure light wing-bars), the longest of the latter edged externally with white; innermost quills edged externally with white. Outer three quills nearly equal and longest (the prolonged secondaries as long), the others graduating less. Outer tail-feathers and shaft white; the inner web edged externally with dusky, which, beginning at the base, runs out gradually to the edge, about half an inch from tip of feathers; second feather with rather less white, and with a narrow line of brown along the outer side of the shaft to within half an inch of the tip. Bill and legs blackish.

Dimensions (prepared specimen). Total length, 6.00; wing, 3.00; tail, 3.00; exposed portion of first primary, 2.30. Bill: length from forehead, 0.58; from nostril, 0.35; along gape, 0.57. Legs: tarsus, 0.91; middle toe and claw, 0.70; claw alone, 0.16; hind toe and claw, 0.65; claw alone, 0.36.

A second specimen (No. 45,910) differs in having ashy color of head obscured with olivaceous-brown; and the yellow on breast showing brownish bases. The light markings on the wings more distinct and whiter.

Another bird (No. 45,913), taken on shipboard, about ninety miles west of St. Matthew’s Island, Behring’s Sea, August 10, 1866, appears to be of the same species, in autumnal dress. Here the upper colors are more brown; the lower parts yellowish-white tinged with brownish-fulvous across the breast and flank. Kamtschatkan specimens of the same stage of plumage are very similar.

I am unable to distinguish this species from the Protean Budytes flava of Europe and Asia. Many different races appear to be found throughout this wide circle of distribution, many of them more or less local, but the proportions and general character are the same in all, and the general tendency appears to be to unite all into one species. The sexes and ages of all the species, real or supposed, vary very much, and, in the absence of a large series, I can throw no light upon the obscurities of the subject. I cite above the latest general work on the birds of Europe, in which will be found the principal synonymes.

The specimens from Alaska submitted for examination to Mr. H. B. Tristram were identified by him as the B. flava.

HABITS. The Gray-headed Wagtail of Europe finds a place in the fauna of North America as a bird of Alaska, where specimens have been obtained, and where it is, at least, an occasional visitant. It is not a common bird of the British Islands, where it is replaced by a closely allied species. Only seven or eight instances of its occurrence were known to Mr. Yarrell.

On the continent of Europe it is quite an abundant species, inhabiting wet springy places in moist meadows, and frequenting the vicinity of water and the gravelly edges of rivers. It is numerous in all the central portions of Europe. It has also an extensive northern and eastern geographical range, appearing in Norway and Sweden as early as April and remaining there until September. Linnæus met with it in Lapland on the 22d of May. It occurs in Algeria, Nubia, and Egypt. Mr. Gould has received it from the Himalayas, and Temminck gives it as a bird of Japan.

According to Degland, this bird is a very abundant species in France, where it nests on the ground in the cornfields, in open fields, meadows, and amidst the standing grain. It lays from four to six eggs, of a brownish-yellow on a reddish-white ground, profusely covered with fine dots of reddish-gray, which are more or less confluent. A few zigzag lines of dark brown or black are found on the larger end. They measure .63 of an inch in length and .55 in breadth. Its food is flies, moths, small green caterpillars, and aquatic insects.

Ray’s Wagtail, recognized by some authors as a distinct species, is probably only an insular race, chiefly found in the British Islands and in Western France. In the latter place both birds occur, and here also they have been known to mate the one with the other. Their nests and eggs are so alike as not to be distinguishable. The former are constructed of fine fibrous roots and fine stems of grasses, and are lined with hair.

These birds are remarkably social, collecting in small flocks soon after leaving their nests, and until their autumnal migrations following the older birds in quest of food. They have two call-notes which are quite shrill, and are repeated in succession, the second being lower in tone. No mention is made by the naturalists of the Telegraph Expedition of their having any song other than these notes.

Mr. Bannister first observed this species at St. Michael’s, on the 9th or 10th of June, and from that time until late in August they were among the most abundant of the land-birds. During the month of June he observed them in flocks of twenty or thirty individuals. It seemed to be a rather shy bird. He described its flight as like that of our common Goldfinch, rising with a few strokes of its wings, then closing them and describing a sort of paraboloidal curve in the air. The only note which he heard and identified as uttered by this species was a kind of faint chirp, hardly to be called a song. These birds seemed to prefer the open country, and were rarely observed in the low brush, the only approach to woods found on the island.

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SUBFAMILY ANTHINÆ

The characters of this subfamily have already been detailed. The American sections may be defined as follows, although whether entitled to rank as genera may be questioned:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Tail decidedly shorter than the wings; less than half the whole length of bird; simply emarginate and rounded. Hind claw lengthened; only slightly curved. Feathers of back with paler edges; breast streaked with dusky. Nest on the ground; eggs finely mottled so as almost to be uniform dark brown (in North American species).

a. Wings much pointed, and lengthened.

Point of wing formed by four outer primaries, of which the fourth sometimes a little shorter than the third. Hind toe and claw as long as middle, shorter than tarsus, the claw alone usually a little longer than the toe itself, and slightly curved; inner toe and claw longer than the outer; outstretched toes falling short of the tip of tail; hind toe and claw shorter than tarsus … Anthus.

Point of wings formed by four outer primaries, the first longest, or as long as others. Legs stout, the outstretched toes reaching almost to tip of tail. Hind toe and claw longer than tarsus, the claw very long, but equal to the toe proper … Neocorys.

b. Wings short, rounded.

Point of wings formed by four outer primaries of nearly equal length … Notiocorys.[32]

Point of wings formed by five outer primaries, the first shorter than third … Pediocorys.[33]

GENUS ANTHUS, BECHST.

Anthus, BECHST. Gemein. Naturg. Deutschl. 1802. (Type, Alauda spinoletta.)

[Line drawing: Anthus ludovicianus. 328]

CHAR. Bill slender, much attenuated, and distinctly notched. A few short bristles at the base. Culmen concave at the base. Tarsi quite distinctly scutellate; longer than the middle toe; inner lateral toe the longer. Hind toe rather shorter than the tarsus, but longer than the middle toe, owing to the long, attenuated, and moderately curved hind claw, which is considerably more than half the total length of the toe. Tail rather long, emarginate. Wing very long, considerably longer than the lengthened tail, reaching to its middle. The first primary nearly equal to the longest. The tertials almost as long as the primaries.

But one species of this genus belongs properly to North America, although a second is accidental in Greenland and Alaska. The diagnoses are as follows:—

Bill and feet blackish. Prevailing color above olive-brown. Beneath buff. Edge and inside of wings white. Shafts of middle tail-feathers above dark brown … A. ludovicianus.

Bill and feet dusky flesh-color. Prevailing color above olive-green; more distinctly streaked. Beneath greenish-white. Edge and inside of wings greenish-yellow. Shafts of middle tail-feathers above whitish … A. pratensis.

ZANDER (Cabanis Journal, Extraheft I, 1853, 64) states that Anthus cervinus, PALLAS, is found in the Aleutian Islands. It is described as having

The feet yellowish-brown; the two longest under tail-coverts with a blackish longitudinal spot; the longest tertial almost equal to the longest primary; the shaft of the first tail-feather mostly white; no green on the plumage; the throat rust-color.

BALDAMUS (Naumannia, 1857, 202) says he has received Anthus aquaticus and its eggs from Labrador. This statement, however, requires verification.

Anthus ludovicianus, LICHT.

TITLARK; AMERICAN PIPIT.

Alauda ludoviciana, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 793. Anthus ludovicianus, LICHT. Verz. 1823, 37; also of AUDUBON & BONAPARTE.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 232; Rev. 153.—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. 1861, 220 (Labrador).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 296 (Cordova).—IB. Catal. 1861, 24, no. 153. SCL. & SALV. Ibis, 1859, 9 (Guatemala).—JONES, Nat. in Bermuda, 1859, 29, autumn.—BLAKISTON, Ibis, 1862, 4 (Saskatchewan).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 277.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 78. Alauda rubra, GM.; Alauda rufa, WILS.; Anthus spinoletta, BON., AUD.; Alauda pennsylvanica, BRISS.; ? Alauda pennsylvanica, BONN. Encycl. Méth. I, 1790, 319. ? Motacilla hudsonica, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 503.—VIEILLOT, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 447. Anthus pennsylvanica, ZANDER; Anthus aquaticus, AUD.; Anthus pipiens, AUD.; Anthus rubens, MERREM; Anthus reinhardtii, HÖLBOLL, Fauna Grönlands (ed. Paulsen), 1846, 25 (Greenland). Figures: AUD. Birds Am. III, pl. cxl.—IB. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxxx.— WILSON, V. pl. lxxxix.

SP. CHAR. (Female, in spring.) Above olive-brown, each feather slightly darker towards the central portion; beneath pale dull-buff, or yellowish-brown, with a maxillary series of dark-brown spots and streaks across the breast and along sides. Ring round the eye, and superciliary stripe, yellowish. Central tail-feathers like the back, others dark blackish-brown; the external one white, except at the base within; a white spot at the end of the second. Primaries edged with whitish, other quills with pale brownish. Length, 6.50; wing, 3.45; tail, 2.95.

HAB. Whole of North America; Greenland; Bermuda; south to Orizaba, Guatemala, and even Peru? Heligoland, Europe. (GÄTKE.) Not noted in West Indies.

Spring specimens from Labrador, collected by Dr. Coues, have the upper parts ashy without any tinge of olive, almost bluish on the head; the lower parts deeper and more reddish-buff than in autumnal and winter specimens. Tarsi black in spring, brown in winter; toes always black.

HABITS. At different seasons of the year the Brown Titlark is found throughout the continent, and abundant for the time in the several parts of the country, chiefly frequenting the least cultivated portions and apparently preferring the sterile and least attractive regions. It is one of the most extensively distributed of all our North American birds, being found in immense numbers over the whole length and breadth of North America. Gambel met them in large numbers in New Mexico and California; Richardson found them on the plains of the Saskatchewan; it is abundant in the Arctic regions from May to October, and is equally common on the coast of Labrador; Mr. Dall found it universal from British Columbia north. It is also found in Florida, Cape St. Lucas, Mexico, and Central America. Accidental specimens have occurred in Europe.

This lark is a bird of easy and beautiful flight, passing and repassing through the air with graceful evolutions, and when moving to new localities, sweeping over the place several times before alighting. It also moves rapidly on the ground and after the manner of the true larks, jerking the tail like our Water-Thrushes and the European Wagtails.

When feeding on the open ground in the interior, their food is chiefly insects and small seeds. On the banks of rivers and on the seashore they are fond of running along the edge of the water, searching among the drift for insects, small shells, and crustaceans. Near New Orleans and Charleston, in the winter, Mr. Audubon found them feeding, in company with the Turkey Buzzard, upon garbage.

Dr. Coues found the Titlark abundant in every locality visited by him in Labrador, giving him an ample opportunity to observe its habits during the breeding-season. He found them on some of the most rocky and barren islands along the coast. They frequented only the open, bare, and exposed situations, such as that coast everywhere afforded, and were never found in wooded localities. The nests of this species found by him were identical in situation, form, and construction, placed on the sides of steep, precipitous chasms, in small cavities in the earth, into which dry moss had been introduced to keep the nest from the damp ground. They were composed entirely of coarse, dry grasses loosely put together, without any lining. Their external diameter was six inches, and the depth of the cavity two inches.

Dr. Coues describes the song of the male bird as very sweet and pleasant. Mr. Audubon speaks of it as consisting of a few clear and mellow notes when on the wing, and when standing erect on the rocks it produces a clearer and louder song.

Dr. Coues speaks of their flight as undulating and unsteady, and never protracted to any great distance. They never alight on bushes, but always on the ground, where they run with great ease and rapidity. At low tides they resorted to the muddy flats, where they ran about upon the eel-grass, searching for their food in company with the small Sandpipers and in a similar manner, finding there an abundance of food. At all times they exhibited a heedless familiarity and an entire want of fear of man, feeding unconcernedly around the doors of the houses, and searching for their insect food on the roofs of the sheds and dwellings.

Both birds incubate and sit so closely that they may almost be trodden upon before they are willing to leave their nest, and even then only flutter off to a short distance, with loud cries of distress that soon bring the mate and other pairs of the same species to join in the lamentations. They hover over the heads of the intruders, at times approaching within a few feet, expressing their distress by the most plaintive cries, and even when the intruders withdraw following them to a considerable distance.

All the nests of this lark that I have seen are remarkable for the thickness of their walls, and the strength, compactness, and elaborate care with which the materials are put together, particularly for nests built on the ground. They are well suited to protect their contents from the cold, damp ground on which they are placed; and their upper portions are composed of stout vegetable stems, lichens, and grasses strongly interwoven, and forming a strong rim around the upper part of the nest.

Dr. Coues describes their eggs as of a dark chocolate-color, indistinctly marked with numerous small lines and streaks of black. Audubon describes them as having a ground-color of a deep reddish-chestnut, darkened by numerous dots of deeper reddish-brown and lines of various sizes, especially toward the larger end. Those in my possession, received from Labrador by Thienemann, measure from .75 to .78 of an inch in length, and from .59 to .62 in breadth, and have a light-brown or clay-colored ground, so thickly covered with spots as to be almost concealed. These spots are of a purplish chocolate-brown, with occasional darker lines about the larger end. In others the markings are bolder and larger and of brighter hues. Like the eggs of the Anthus arboreus of Europe, it is probable that those of this Titlark exhibit great variations, both in ground-color and in the shades of their markings.

Anthus pratensis, BECHST.

EUROPEAN PIPIT.

Alauda pratensis, LINN. Syst. Nat. 1766, 287. Anthus pratensis, BECHST. Deutsch. Vögel, III, 1807, 732.—KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europas, 1840, 172.—ZANDER, Cab. Jour. I, extraheft, 1853, 60.—PAULSEN, ed. HÖLBOLL, Faun. Grönlands, 1846, 24.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 6.—NEWTON, Baring-Gould’s Iceland, 1863.—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 155. Figures: GOULD’S Birds Europe, pl. cxxxvi.

HAB. Europe generally; common in Lapland; accidental in Greenland; St. Michael’s, Norton Sound.

This species in general form resembles the A. ludovicianus, the fifth primary in both being abruptly and considerably shorter than the outer four; the bill and legs quite similar. The average size appears much the same. The upper parts are, however (especially the head and back), more distinctly streaked with dusky; the edge and inside of wing greenish-yellow, not white, and the upper plumage and outer edges of the quills decidedly olive-green. The shafts of the middle tail-feathers above are whitish, not dark brown; the under parts greenish-white, conspicuously streaked with dark brown. The bill is dusky, the base and edges paler; the legs dusky flesh-color, not dark brown.

The occurrence of this species in Greenland was noticed in the Review; and since the publication of that work a specimen has been obtained at St. Michael’s, in Alaska, by Mr. W. H. Dall, and is now in the Smithsonian collection. The specimen in question appears to be the true pratensis.

HABITS. This European species claims a place in the North American fauna on the ground of a single specimen having been found in Greenland, in 1845, and one at St. Michael’s, Norton Sound. In the Old World it is the counterpart of our ludovicianus, which, in all respects, it closely resembles. It is the most common and the best known of European Titlarks. In Great Britain, where it is found throughout the year, it appears to prefer the uncultivated districts, inhabiting commons and waste lands, and in the more northern parts frequenting the moors. It is also found in meadows and marsh lands, in winter seeking more sheltered places. It is rarely seen to alight on a branch or to sit on a rail. Its song is soft and musical, and is usually uttered when on the wing or when vibrating over its nest. It seeks its food altogether on the ground, running nimbly in pursuit of insects, slugs, and worms. According to Yarrell its nest is built on the ground, generally among the grass. It is composed externally of dried sedges, lined with finer materials and some hair. The eggs are six in number, of a reddish-brown color, mottled over with darker shades of the same, and measure .80 by .60 of an inch.

According to the observations of English naturalists, this bird resorts to various ingenious devices to conceal its nest, or to draw aside attention from it, such as feigning lameness when it is approached, and concealing it by artificial covering when it has been once discovered.

The Meadow Pipit is common during the summer months in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, visiting also the Faroe Islands and Iceland. It inhabits the whole continent of Europe as far south as Spain, Italy, and Sicily. It has also been found in Northern Africa, and, according to Gould, in Western Asia. Temminck also states it to be among the birds of Japan.

According to Degland these larks, after the breeding-season, unite in small flocks, probably families, and frequent low and damp localities. In summer they are more often found on high and dry mountain plains. Their flesh is said to be delicious.

GENUS NEOCORYS, SCLATER.

Neocorys, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. 1857, 5. (Type, Alauda spraguei, AUD.)

CHAR. Bill half as long as the head; the culmen concave at the base, slightly decurved at the tip. Rictus without bristles. Legs stout; tarsi distinctly scutellate, longer than the middle toe. Hind toe very long, equal to the tarsus, much longer than the middle toe; its claw but slightly curved, and about half the total length. Inner lateral toe rather longer than outer. Wings much longer than tail; first quill longest. Tertials considerably longer than secondaries. Tail rather short, emarginate.

But one species of this genus is known, it being peculiar to the Western plains.

Neocorys spraguei, SCLAT.

MISSOURI SKYLARK; SPRAGUE’S PIPIT

Alauda spraguei, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 335, pl. cccclxxxvi. Agrodoma spraguei, BAIRD, Stansbury’s Rep. 1852, 329. _Neocorys spraguei_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 5.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 234.—BLAKISTON, Ibis, 1862, 4 (Saskatchewan).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 80. Anthus (Neocorys) spraguei, BAIRD, Rev. 155.

SP. CHAR. Above wood-brown, all the feathers edged with paler, especially on the neck, where there is a brownish-yellow tinge. The under parts are dull white, with a collar of sharply defined narrow brown streaks across the forepart and along the sides of the breast. Lores and a superciliary line whitish. Tail-feathers, except the middle ones, dark brown; the outer one white, the second white, with the inner margin brown. The outer primary is edged with white, and there are two dull whitish bands across the wings. Bill and feet yellow, the former brown above. Length (female), 5.75; wing, 3.35; tail, 2.50.

HAB. Plains of Yellowstone and Upper Missouri to Saskatchewan; Nebraska.

[Line drawing: Neocorys spraguei. 16766]

This little-known species has the general appearance of a Titlark, but is readily distinguished from Anthus ludovicianus by the purer white of its under parts, the much darker centres and much paler margins to the feathers above, the entirely white external tail-feather, and the yellow legs and bill, as well as by its generic peculiarities. In its song and general habits it approaches nearer the European Skylark than any bird belonging to our fauna.

HABITS. This interesting species was first described by Audubon, in the supplementary portion of his Birds of America. It was obtained by the party which accompanied him to the Upper Missouri in 1843. It was first met with on the 19th of June near Fort Union, in Dacotah Territory. It has since been found on the fork of the Saskatchewan, but little additional information respecting its habits has been obtained since its first discovery.

It seems to more nearly approach, in its habits, the European Skylark than any other of our North American birds. Mr. Edward Harris was completely misled, at first, by the sound of their song, so that on several occasions he sought for them on the ground. Their voices appeared to come to him from the earth’s surface. After having travelled in quest of them, to no purpose, to many distant parts of the prairies, he at last discovered that these sounds proceeded from several of these birds soaring at so great an elevation as to make them difficult to discover by the eye, even in the transparent atmosphere of that country.

They are described as running gracefully on the ground, at times squatting to observe the movements of the intruders, and again elevating their bodies as if to meet their approach. Rising from the ground, they fly in an undulating manner, so that it is extremely difficult to shoot them on the wing. They continue thus to fly in increasing circles until about a hundred yards high, when they begin to sing. After a while, suddenly closing their wings, they drop to the ground. They could be easily approached in a light wagon, and in this manner several specimens were obtained.

Captain Blakiston (Ibis, V. 61) found this Skylark common on the prairies of the Saskatchewan during the breeding-season. He first met with it on the 6th of May, near Fort Carlton. When disturbed from the grass, its usual haunt, it utters a single chirp, and immediately mounts in the air by a circuitous course, with a very undulating flight, to a great height, where with outstretched wings it soars in a peculiar manner, and utters a very striking song. This is described as consisting of a quick succession of notes, in a descending scale, each note being lower than the preceding. The bird then descends to the ground with great rapidity, almost like a stone, and somewhat in the manner of a hawk swooping on its prey. It was difficult of approach, and not easily killed. He also observed these birds in Northern Minnesota, May 4, 1859.

A nest of this bird was built on the ground and placed in a hollow. It was made of fine grasses interwoven into a circular form, but without any lining. The eggs were four or five in number, an oblong oval in shape, much pointed at one end, and measuring .87 of an inch in length by .63 in breadth. Their ground-color was a dull white, so minutely dotted with a grayish-purple as to give the whole egg a homogeneous appearance, as of that uniform color.

The young larks, soon after being hatched, followed their parents on the ground, and were fed with seeds of the smaller plants and with insects. They had already begun to associate in small flocks of from eight to a dozen before the party left, and on the 16th of August had commenced their southern migrations.

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FAMILY SYLVICOLIDÆ.—THE WARBLERS

The Sylvicolidæ are essentially characterized among the Oscines with nine primaries, by their small size, the usually slender and conical insectivorous bill, shorter than the head, without angle in the gape near the base; the toes deeply cleft so as to leave the inner one free almost to its very base (except in Mniotiltæ), etc. The shallow notch at the end of the tongue, instead of a deeply fissured tip, distinguishes the family from the Cærebidæ, to some of which there is otherwise so great a resemblance. The absence of abrupt hook and notch in both mandibles separates it from such of the Vireonidæ as have nine primaries.

The American Motacillidæ are distinguished from the Sylvicolidæ by the emargination of the outer and the great elongation of the inner secondaries, as well as by other features referred to under that family. Anthus, in particular, differs in the lengthened and slightly curved hind claw. There is little difficulty in distinguishing the Sylvicolidæ, however, from any families excepting the slender-billed forms of the Tanagridæ, as Chlorospingus, Nemosia, Chlorochrysa, etc., and the conirostral Cœrebidæ. In fact, some ornithologists are inclined to include all three of the families thus mentioned in one, from the difficulty of marking their boundaries respectively.

In fact, we are of the opinion that no violence would be done by adopting this view, and would even include with the above-mentioned families the Fringillidæ also. The order of their relation to one another would be thus: Fringillidæ, Tanagridæ, Sylvicolidæ, Cœrebidæ; there being scarcely any break in the transition between the two extremes, unless there are many genera referred to the wrong family, as seems very likely to be the case with many included in the Tanagridæ. The fringilline forms of the latter family are such genera as Buarremon and Arremon, they being so closely related to some fringilline genera by so many features—as rounded concave wing, lax plumage, and spizine coloration—as to be scarcely separable. Either these two families are connected so perfectly by intermediate forms as to be inseparable, or the term Tanagridæ covers too great a diversity of forms. With the same regularity that we proceed from the Fringillidæ to the typical forms of the Tanagridæ (Pyranga, Tanagra, Calliste, etc.), we pass down the scale from these to the Sylvicolidæ; while between many genera of the latter family, and others referred to the Cærebidæ, no difference in external anatomy can be discovered, much less expressed in a description.

In the following synopsis we attempt to define the higher groups of the Sylvicolidæ, although in the large number of species and their close relationships it is very difficult to express clearly their distinctive features.

Subfamilies.

A. Bill conical, its bristles very weak, or wanting.

a. Bill sub-conical, the culmen and commissure nearly straight.

Sylvicolinæ. Feet weak, not reaching near the end of the tail. Wing pointed, considerably longer than the nearly even or slightly emarginated tail. Feet dark-colored (except in Helmitherus, Helinaia, and Parula). Arboreal.

Geothlypinæ. Feet strong, reaching nearly to end of the tail. Wing rounded. Feet pinkish-white. Terrestrial.

b. Bill high and compressed, the culmen and commissure much curved.

Icterianæ. Bill without notch or rictal bristles; wing much rounded, shorter than the tail.

B. Bill depressed, its bristles strong.

Setophaginæ. Bill, tyrannine, considerably broader than high, the tip more or less hooked, and with a distinct notch. Rictal bristles reaching half-way, or more, to the tip.

Sections and Genera.

SYLVICOLINÆ.

1. Middle toe, with claw, longer than tarsus.

Mniotilteæ. Bill much compressed for terminal half, the lateral outline decidedly concave; culmen and gonys decidedly convex; commissure moderately concave. Rictal bristles very inconspicuous; notch just perceptible … Mniotilta.

2. Middle toe, with claw, not longer than tarsus.

Vermivoreæ. Bill without a distinct notch, or lacking it entirely; rictal bristles wanting, or very minute; culmen and gonys nearly straight; bill only very moderately compressed.

a. Middle toe and claw about equal to tarsus.

Bill not acute; culmen and gonys decidedly convex; notch just perceptible; bristles apparent … Protonotaria.

Bill moderately acute, robust; no notch; culmen straight, its base elevated and slightly arched; bristles not apparent … Helinaia.

Bill moderately acute; robust; no notch; culmen convex, its base not elevated; bristles apparent … Helmitherus.

b. Middle toe and claw considerably shorter than tarsus.

Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch not perceptible; bristles not apparent … Helminthophaga.

Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch just perceptible; bristles strong … Parula.

Sylvicoleæ. Bill distinctly notched; rictal bristles strong; outlines generally slightly curved.

Bill acute, gonys slightly concave … Perissoglossa.

Bill not acute, gonys convex … Dendroica.

GEOTHLYPINÆ.

3. Wings pointed, longer than the nearly even tail.

Seiureæ.

Above olive-brown; beneath white with dark streaks … Seiurus.

Above olive-green; beneath yellow without streaks … Oporornis.

4. Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail.

Geothlypeæ.

Above olive-green; beneath yellow, without streaks … Geothlypis.

ICTERIANÆ.

5. Bill very deep and compressed; tail graduated; outer toe deeply cleft.

Icterieæ.

Olive-green above; bright yellow anteriorly beneath. Upper mandible deeper than the lower … Icteria.

Plumbeous-blue above; red, black, and white beneath. Upper mandible not so deep as the lower … Granatellus.

6. Bill slender, sub-conical, but curved; tail nearly even; outer toe adherent for basal half.

Teretristeæ.

Above olive-gray; beneath whitish posteriorly, and yellow anteriorly … Teretristis.

SETOPHAGINÆ.

7. Bill tyrannine. Tail broad, equal to or longer than the wing, and much rounded.

Setophageæ. Colors mainly black, red, and white.

Tail not longer than the wing. Above black, wing variegated … Setophaga.

Tail longer than the wing. Above plumbeous, wing unvariegated … Myioborus.

8. Bill sylvicoline. Tail narrow, almost even; shorter than the wing.

Myiodiocteæ. Colors yellow beneath, olive-green or ashy above.

Black markings about the head in the ♂ … Myiodioctes.

9. Bill somewhat parine. Tail equal to the wing, almost even.

Cardellineæ. Colors mainly red, or red, ashy, and white.

Bill weak, almost cylindrical; wings rounded, the quills broad and soft at ends. Tail slightly rounded, the feathers soft. Colors mainly red … Ergaticus.

Bill stout, the culmen and gonys very convex; wings pointed, the quills emarginated and hard at ends. Tail even, the feathers hard. Color ashy above; rump and beneath white. Head red and black … Cardellina.

Of the above, Granatellus, Myioborus, Ergaticus, and Cardellina belong to Central and South America, Teretristis to Cuba.

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