The Long Billed Marsh Wren {Teimatodytes paiustHs 



Palustris) 

 By W. Leon Dawson 



Length : Five inches. 



Range : Eastern United States, north to Massachusetts, Ontario and Mana- 

 toba. 



To the coots and rails belong the ooze-infesting morsels of the swamps, 

 but all the little crawling things which venture into the upper story of the waving 

 cat-tail forest belong the Long-billed Marsh Wren. Somewhat less cautious 

 than the water-fowl, he is the presiding genius of flowing acres, which often 

 have no other interest for the ornithologist. There are only two occasions when 

 the Marsh Wren voluntarily leaves the shelter of the cat-tails or of the closely- 

 related marshables. One of these is when he is driven south by the migrating 

 instinct. Then he may be seen sulking about the borders of streams, sheltering in 

 the weeds or clambering about the drift. The other time is in spring, when the 

 male shoots up into the air a few feet above the reeds, like a ball from a Roman 

 candle, and sputters all the way, only to drop back, extinguished, into the reeds 

 again. This is a part of the tactics of his courting season, when, if ever, a body 

 may be allowed a little liberty. For the rest he clings sidewise to the cat-tail stem 

 or sprawls in midair, reaching, rather than flying from one stem to another. 

 His tail is cocked up and his head is thrown back, so that, on those few occasions 

 when he is seen, he does not get credit for being as large as he really is. 



The wren is very free with his metallic clattering notes. As in the case of 

 the Carolina wren, the bird gives one the impression of being chock-full, and 

 of needing only to turn a convenient spigot to let out a flood of sounds. There is 

 a mixture of clicking, lisping, purring, and sweet sputtering about them all which 

 is not at all unpleasant to the ear. 



In nesting this wren weaves a compact ball of dead reeds and grasses a 

 little deeper than wide, and slung midway of the growing reeds. The interstices 

 of the structure are tightly packed with vegetable cotton, cat-tail down, or moss, — 

 never mud, and in my experience entrance is effected through a hole in the side, 

 often difficult to discover, and the interior is snugly lined with down or purloined 

 feathers. While the female is incubating, the male has a curious habit of con- 

 structing other nests in the neighboring reeds. These cocks' nests vary from 

 three to twenty in number, and spread out through an area of a square rod or 

 two. Some are never finished, but others are quite as carefully built as the one 

 actually occupied. The purpose of this strange habit is unknown, except as it 

 is probable that the male spends the night in one of them. 



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