Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/176

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How to Name the Birds

STUDIES OF THE FAMILIES OF PASSERES

BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN

SIXTH PAPER FAMILY i4. WRExs, 'I‘ukAsuERs, ETC, Tro‘q/utiJIii/m.

Rangr.vThe Wrens (subfamily Tragladytina’) number some 150 spe- cies, all but a dozen of which are confined to the western hemisphere. where they are distributed from Patagonia to Labrador and Alaska Four- teen species inhabit America north of Mexico. eight of these occurring east of the Mississippi.

The Thrashers (subfamily il/limina') number some 50 species and are conﬁned to America. Eleven species inhabit the United States, of which only three, the Brown Thrasher. Catbird and Mockingbird, are found east of the Mississippi.

Season.70ur Wrens, with the exception of the Carolina Wren and Bewick's Wren, are migratory. One species, the Winter Wren, comes from the north in the fall, reaching the latitude of New York city about September 22 and remaining until April; the others come from the south, appearing late in April and early in May and leaving us in October.

The Mockingbird is migratory only at the northern limit of its range: our other representatives of the illimime. the Thrasher and Catbird, are both migratory, coming late in April and remaining until October.

Calenishades of brown and gray are the characteristic colors of the Wrens and Thrashers, as they are of most brush- and thicket-haunting birds. With the Wrens ﬁne black markings are common; with the Thrashers and Mockers solid colors prevail.

External Structure—Although differing so markedly in general appear- ance (compare a House Wren and Brown Thrasher, for example), the Wrens and Thrashers possess many points of structure in common, and when some of the larger tropical Wrens are examined their resemblance to the Thrashers is obvious, Both Wrens and Thrashers have scaled tarsi. rounded or graduated tails, the outer feathers being, as a rule, much the shortest, and the outer primary is about half as long as the longest

Appmmnre and HabitLiThe nervous. excitable manner of our House Wren and its habit of holding the tail erect or even pointing toward its head, is characteristic of most of the members of this group, though with the largest Wrens the tail is not held upright. With the Thrashers and

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