202 LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN 



Long-billed Marsh "Wren : Cistothorus palustris. 



(Plate X.) 



Geographic Distributiox. — Eastern North America ; breeds 

 from the Gulf states to Manitoba and Massachnsetts ; winters 

 from the Gulf states, and locally farther north, southward to 

 Mexico, 



When woods and fields have lost their relish, 

 spend a day in a marsh and the world will seem 

 young again. The expanse of the great level 

 stretch, ' its range and its sweep ' — a dark green 

 sea interrupted only by its narrow winding river, 

 seemingly bounded only b}^ the horizon where 

 treetops meet the small round clouds bordering 

 the soft June heavens — both the expanse and 

 solitude of the great green plain under the sky 

 are infinitely restful. 



But, aside from this, the marsh is a little world 

 apart, offering keen, peculiar pleasures to those 

 who know nature only in her more familiar forms. 

 As you wade through the reeds, the long blades 

 make pleasant music in your ears, seething as 

 they bow before you and rise behind you. Even 

 the unexpected plunge into deep water takes its 

 place along with the first taste of sweet-flag and 

 the moment when you sight the blue patch of 

 iris down the marsh. As for birds, they pervade 

 the margins of the plain and give it life. At one 

 moment you are remonstrated with by Maryland 

 Yellow-throats, small yellow birds who whip in 

 and out of the reeds, peering up at you anxiously 



