LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN 237 



marshes of the Potomac River, near Washington, D. C. : "Although 

 usually fastening the nest to upright sedge — or reed-stalks, the writer 

 has found several that were built in small willow trees, at heights 

 varying from 6 to 15 feet above high tide." Evidently this long- 

 billed marsh wren often differs from other races of the species else- 

 where, in its choice of nesting sites. 



The long-billed marsh wren must be added to the long list of birds 

 that have been known to use pieces of snakeskin in their nests, for 

 Josiah H. Clark (1899) found a nest near Rutherford, N. J., that was 

 "lined with a cast-off snake skin, which was about a foot long." 



Eggs. — This subspecies seems to lay fewer eggs, on the average, than 

 do some other races. Mr. Griggs found that the average for 23 

 clutches was 4.3. Two nests had 3 eggs, 12 had 4, and 9 had 5 eggs. 



I cannot see that there is any difference in the appearance of the 

 eggs from those of the species elsewhere. The measurements of 40 

 eggs average 16.0 by 12.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 17.3 by 13.2, 14.2 by 11.7, and 15.2 by 11.2 milli- 

 meters. These eggs are all in the United States National Museum. 



Having included so much in the life history of the prairie marsh 

 wren, it seems unnecessary to add much more here, as the general 

 habits of these two races are very much alike. Mr. Hunt (1904) has 

 this to say about the midnight song of the long-billed marsh wren: 

 "At all hours of the night the Marsh Wren's notes may be heard ring- 

 ing across the marsh. Drifting with the tide, in an open boat, among 

 these swamps I have heard this night song at its best. There is a 

 pleasant surprise in store for the bird-lover who has missed it. This 

 night song is no doubt the same as that sung in the daylight but the 

 night gives to it a certain charm. One must hear it mingled with the 

 quivering call of a Screech Owl and the 'quawk, quawk' of Night 

 Herons to fully appreciate it." 



Mr. Griggs adds the following items of interest : "About two-thirds 

 of the nests studied were destroyed between the time of the laying of 

 the first egg and the time at which the young were ready to fly. In 

 a very few cases the nests were damaged somewhat, or a hole was torn 

 in the bottom, but in the great majority eggs and young disappeared 

 without the nest being damaged. About a dozen small rodents were 

 discovered in Jamestown Island nests. One, caught inside a dummy 

 nest, proved to be a rice rat {Oryzomys palitstris palustris). Mr. 

 Crook, of Williamsburg, found fragments of eggs and an adult bird, 

 which had been eaten by some small mammal that jumped into the 

 water at his approach. Only a few scattered feathers, the skull, leg, 

 and wing bones of the parent bird remained." 



Only about six watersnakes and about the same number of black- 

 snakes were seen in the marsh. "At no time was a snake seen sus- 

 piciously close to a wren nest. One blacksnake, in a bayberry bush 



