A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1

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 Varietiesa. 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, VieillHOUSE 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.).

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.

Troglodytes ædon.

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, AudPARKMAN’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, VieillWINTER 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. 1, 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.