LAND BIRDS. 679 



Island, St. Mary's River, but it seems probable that the Long-billed Marsh 

 Wren was the species found there. We have no other record of the bird so 

 far north, except in the Manitoba region, where however, it is abundant. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Bill .40 inch or less. 



Adult: Upper parts streaked with black, white and buff; wings and tail barred with 

 the same colors; under parts soiled white, unspotted, shaded with pale brown across the 

 breast, the sides, flanks and under tail-coverts a deeper shade of the same. Sexes alike. 



Length 3.75 to 3.50 inches; wing 1.70 to 1.90; tail 1.60 to 1.70. 



308. Long-billed Marsh Wren. Telmatodytes palustris palustris (Wils.). 



(725) 



Synonyms: Marsh Wren, Reed Wren, Cat- tail Wren, Salt-water Marsh Wren. — 

 Certhia palustris, Wilson, 1810. — -Troglodytes palustris, Bonap., 1824, Aud., 1831, Nutt., 

 1832. — -Thryothorus palustris, Bonap., 1838. — Cistothorus palustris, Baird, 1859, A. O. 

 U. Check-list, 1886, part.— Telmatodytes palustris, Coues, 1868. 



Mainly brown and black above, the back alone with white streaks, 

 the crown black with a median stripe of brown. Under parts white along 

 the middle line from chin to belly, the sides buff or brown. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, north to Massachusetts, Ontario 

 and southern Manitoba, wintering from the Gulf States south to eastern 

 Mexico and locally as far north as southern New England. Breeds through- 

 out its United States and British American range. 



The Long-billed Marsh Wren is a common summer inhabitant of all 

 parts of the state where suitable conditions are found. It delights in 

 extensive marshes like those at St. Clair Flats and Saginaw Bay, and 

 about the mouths of large rivers, particularly where reeds, rushes and 

 cattail flags abound. In such locations it is found often in great numbers, 

 and although most abundant in the middle and southern parts of the state, 

 is by no means rare in suitable places along the south shore of Lake 

 Superior. It much prefers large areas of marsh, but is occasionally found 

 in small cattail swamps of an acre or even less, and here and there a pair 

 may be found in the narrow fringe of rushes bordering a small pond; such 

 instances, however, are unusual and not likely to occur except in regions 

 where many similar spots exist in rather close proximity. 



This is a hardy bird and lingers with us until late in the fall, at least 

 until the latter part of October, and in the eastern states is known to winter 

 as far north as southern Massachusetts and the lower Connecticut Valley. 

 In Michigan, however, it has not been recorded in winter so far as we can 

 learn, moreover, it is not one of the earliest birds to return in the spring. 

 At Ann Arbor Mr. N. A. Wood gives the earliest arrival for twenty- five 

 years as May 6, 1904, but Mr. Eddy recorded it at Bay City as early as 

 April 29, 1891. Dr. Gibbs noted it at Battle Creek April 26, 1889, and 

 Mr. Swales recorded it at Detroit April 18, 1903. It is by no means un- 

 likely that numerous individuals come north earlier than this, but the in- 

 accessible character of the places they frequent makes it extremel}' un- 

 likely that their presence will be noted until they begin to sing. 



The species is remarkable for the number and character of the nests 

 which it builds. These are globular or ovoid, and built mainly of dead 

 flags, reeds and rushes, woven into a compact mass and the cracks filled 

 with decayed vegetabh> niatlor which in some cases gives the impression 



