TROGLODYTIU.E — THE WllKXS. JgJ 



inthe marshes of Connecticut River, w:iv lliutt'nnl ; and in Illinois Mr. Keu- 

 Tiicott found it among the long grasses bordering on the i)rairie sloughs. 



In ^lassarhusetts I have occasionally met witii their nests, l)iit only late 

 in .fuly, when tlie rank grass of llie lnw meadows lias heen cut. These 

 were prohahly their second Inriod. The nest heing built close to the ground, 

 and made of the living grasses externally, they are not distinguishable from 

 the unoccupied tussocks that surround them. 



Cistothoriis palustris, Uaird. 



LONG-BILLED MARSH WEEN. 



Var. palustris. 



Ccrthia palustris, Wilson, Am. Om. II, 1810, 58, pi. xii, tig. 4 (Penna). Troglodytes pa- 

 lustris, Bon. Obs. Wils. 1824, no. 66. — Aud. Om. Biog. I, 1831, 500, jil. c. — Ib. 

 Birds Am. II, 1841, i;i5, jil. cx.\iii. — Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Godthaal), Green- 

 land). Thryothm-us pahistris, NuTT. Man. I, 18.32, 439. Cisluthorus (Tdmatndytes) 

 pal-iistris, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 364; Rev. 147. — Solater, Catal. 1861, 22. 

 Thryothorus arundiuaccus, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. XXXIV, 1819, 58 (not Troy, 

 arundinacmis, Vieillot). Thrynthorus anmdinaceus, BoN. Consp. 1850, 220. Td- 

 matodytes anmdinaceus, (_'ab. Jhis. Heiu. 1850, 78. 



Hab. Eastern United States, from the Missouri River ; Greenland ? Reinhardt ; 

 Mexico, and Guatemala ? Cordova, iSclater. 



Var. paludicola. 



Cistothoriis palustris, var. palw/ioj/n, B.vikd, Rl-v. Am. B. 1864, 14S. Troglodytes palus- 

 tris, Newb. p. R. Rep. VI, iv, 1857, 80 (Piieiflc region). Cistolhorus palustris. Cooper 

 & Suckley, p. R. Rep. X, II, 1859, 190 (W. T.) — CooPER, Om. Cal. I. 1870, 75. 

 Certhia palustris. Lord, I'r. 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 tlie outer feather, which is marked from the Ijase 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 -^'ery appreciably in certain characteristics, 

 which may be expressed by the following diagnoses : — 



Bill lengthened, equal to tarsus. Tail-coverts above and below either pcrfuctly 

 plain, or with very obsolete bands, reduced to obscure spots beneath. Bands 

 on tail broken ; scarcely appreciable on the middle feathers . . var. palu st r is. 



Bill shorter than tarsus. Tail-coverts distinctly Iianded all across. Bands on tail 



quite distinct; appreciable on the central leathers . . . . vai: paludicola . 

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