Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/490

 444 TROGLODYTID^, Family TROGLODYTID^. The birds of this family are very close to those of the last but seem to be sufficiently divided by the short, rounded wings of the Wrens as compared with the longer, pointed wings of the Tree- Creepers; the tarsi also are longer and the bill, though varying in shape from the curious wedge-shaped bill of SphenocicJda to the thin, narrow bill of Troglochites, is never like the long, slight bill of Certhia with the culmen curved downwards practically from its base. In the Troglodytidce the tail is composed of soft feathers numbering from 6 in Pnoepyga and 10 in Sjielceornis to 12 in others; the tarsi and feet are very strong; there are no rictal bristles except in the rather aberrant genus Tesia. The young of the spotted forms are much less barred or spotted than the adults, whilst the young of Tesia have quite a different coloration to that of either parent. In some of the genera the sexes are alike, whilst in others they differ greatly. Key to Genera. A. Without any rictal bristles. a. Tail much shorter than wing. a. Tail of twelve feathers. a". Tail not greatly graduated, the outer- most feathers about three-quarters length of central Troglodytes, p. 4:-l4. b". Tail much graduated, outermost feathers only half length of central. Elachura, p. 448. b'. Tail of ten feathers Speljeobnis, p. 451. c'. Tail of six feathers Pnoepyga, p. 457. h. Tail and wing about the same in length. Sphenocichla, p. 460. B. With well-developed rictal bristles Tesia, p. 462. Genus TROGLODYTES Vieill., 1807. The name Troglodytes has been rejected as it was first applied to an American Wreu; as this species, however, is quite con- generic with the English AVren, of which the Indian forms are but local races, it should be I'etained. In Troglodytes the sexes are alike and the young bird is similar to the adult. The bill is very slender and feeble and about half the length of the head; the wing is extremely short and rounded, the first primary being about two-thirds the length of the second; the tail, of 12 feathers, is shorter than the wing and not evy much graduated, the outer feathers being about three-quarters the length of the central ones; the tarsi and claws are long and slender.