EASTERN WINTER WREN 149 



of their delightful music and stop to seek them out. They follow 

 close on the heels of retreating winter, waiting not for the full flush 

 of springtime, and reach their breeding grounds in southern Canada 

 fairly early in April, often while the ground is still frozen or cov- 

 ered with snow, and are soon singing merrily in their woodland 

 haunts. 



Miss Cordelia J. Stanwood (MS.) writes of the arrival of this 

 wren in Maine: "About the middle of April, when the blossoming 

 willows look like yellow flames amid the somber sprout growths and 

 the last snow wraith has slowly transformed itself into a tinkling 

 rill, the winter wren, the Spirit of the Brooks, is abroad. No one 

 who has heard him sing will dispute the right of the little red- 

 brown bird to this appellation." 



Nesting. — I have never been fortunate enough to find a nest of the 

 winter wren in its typical northern haunts, but I believe I have seen 

 the only nest ever recorded in southeastern New England. Although 

 tliis has already been recorded by one of the two men that were with 

 me at the time (Hathaway, 1913), it seems worth while to describe 

 it and its immediate surroundings, which, though out of its normal 

 range geographically, were evidently suitable and congenial. 



On May 24, 1908, Harry S. Hathaway, John H. Flanagan, and I 

 'svere exploring the southwestern comer of Kingston Swamp in Rhode 

 Island, searching especially for nests of the waterthrushes. This is 

 a large, heavily wooded swamp ; the portion that we visited was covered 

 with a heavy, primeval deciduous forest, a cool and shady retreat, 

 the dense foliage of the large trees shutting out the sunlight; the 

 atmosphere was cooled by a steady flow of clear, cold spring water, 

 about ankle deep nearly everywhere and in many places nearly knee 

 deep; the current was perceptible all over the swamp, and in many 

 places it was quite swift. The principal tree growth consisted of 

 maples and swamp white oaks, many of which were of very large 

 size ; there were also many red oaks, beeches, white and yellow birches, 

 ashes, a few solitary white and yellow pines, and some fine specimens 

 of hollies. There was an undergi'owth of saplings and shrubs, with 

 numerous brakes and other ferns in the drier spots. The shade and 

 dampness produced the conditions that the winter wren seems to 

 require. 



We had found a nest of the Louisiana waterthrush in the lower 

 right corner of the upturned roots of a large fallen tree ; the exposed 

 roots were 5 or 6 feet in diameter, and the tree in falling had left 

 a hole full of water more than knee deep. ^Vhile we were photograph- 

 ing this nest, we were surprised to see a winter wren hopping about 

 near the tree, with food in her bill. We withdrew to watch and soon 

 saw her go to the same root and enter a small cavity, that we had not 



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