_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.