268 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



not tufted, near a ditch ; the bottom of this nest was only 4 inches above 

 the mud. 



A nest found by Mr. Terrill (1922) in the locality near Montreal, 

 described above, was "almost resting on the [sphagnum] moss at the 

 base of a low kalmia bush. It was very loosely fastened to the bush 

 and was fairly well hidden by surrounding grasses. In respect of 

 being globular and having a side entrance it resembled the nest of the 

 Long-billed Marsh Wren. Otherwise the loose construction and 

 composition of very old grasses and sedges recalled nests of the shrew. 

 Also it was resting practically on the ground, or moss. It contained 

 two newly hatched young and three addled eggs, two of which were 

 cracked. As far as I could discover the lining consisted of down from 

 poplar (?) catkins, a piece of fur-covered hare skin, and a few chicka- 

 dee feathers." 



A nest studied by Henry Mousley (1934) near St. Hubert, Quebec, 

 in the same general region, is thus described: "The nest, an almost 

 globular structure with a small entrance hole on one side, was composed 

 outwardly of narrow strips of dry cattail leaves whilst the inside lining 

 consisted of a thick layer of cattail down and five white feathers of a 

 domestic fowl. It was only 2 inches above the ground, at the foot of a 

 clump of the common or soft rush {Jv/ncus ejfusus) , this being the more 

 or less general situation. Its height was 6 inches, width 5 inches, whilst 

 the inside diameter was 3 inches." The surrounding herbage consisted 

 principally of goldenrods, intermixed with rushes and sedges, as well 

 as clusters of asters, spiked purple loosestrife, meadowsweet, beggar- 

 ticks, and Roman wormwood. 



The nests observed in Michigan by Dr. Walkinshaw (1935) were 

 apparently similar in location and construction to the Massachusetts 

 nests described above, "all in dense thick masses of small-leafed sedge, 

 or in a combination of sedges and finer grasses." The birds usually 

 build several nests, "and the used nest is often a little closer to the 

 ground than the false ones. * * * Often the false nests of one 

 pair will be located almost to the territory of another pair, in large 

 meadows where they seem to congregate in colonies. In the marsh 

 studied in Calhoun County, during 1934, in an area of about 10 acres, 

 there were as many as 35 or 40 males singing at the same time, while in 

 other places of smaller size only one pair could be found." 



I have no firsthand knowledge of the number of false, or dummy, 

 nests usually built by this wren, but many observers have referred to 

 the universal habit. These nests are presumably built by the male, 

 but this does not seem to have been definitely proved ; they are usually 

 unlined and not so well built as the brood nest. Forbush (1929) says : 

 "It is a great nest builder. Just how many unlined nests one ambitious 

 male will build nobody seems to know, but where there is a large colony 



