256 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



swaying stems like a little acrobat doing the "splits" ; his tail is held 

 erect or pointed saucily forward and his head is lifted so high that 

 head, bod}', and tail seem to form a feathered circle. He climbs 

 nimbly up and down the reeds like a feathered gymnast, now gliding 

 down to the base to pick some food from the water, now gleaning along 

 the stems, and again swinging jauntily from a swaying top. He is 

 the embodiment of active energy, always in motion, never still for 

 a moment, and always chattering, scolding, or singing. He is a shy 

 and elusive little mite ; if we make the slightest motion while watch- 

 ing his antics, he vanishes instantly into the depths of his reedy jungle. 



Although most of the marsh wrens probably live in harmony with 

 their neighbors in the marsh, some, perhaps many, have formed the 

 bad habit of sucking the eggs of least bitterns and red- winged black- 

 birds, as reported by several observers. For example, Dr. Chapman 

 (1900) saw one of these wrens puncture all the eggs in two nests of 

 least bitterns, and he attempted to photograph the bird in the act; 

 the wren did not eat the contents of the eggs, though it may have 

 returned to do so later ; it looked like a case of pure viciousness. And 

 Dr. A. A. Allen (1914) says that "of 51 nests of the Redwing observed 

 in a limited area, the eggs of 14 were destroyed" by marsh wrens, 

 "and it is not at all uncommon to find one or more of the eggs of a 

 nest with neat, circular holes in one side, such as would be made by 

 the small, sharp beak of a wren." One that he watched "began to 

 drink the contents much as a bird drinks water. After a few sips, it 

 grasped the eggshell in its beak and flew off into the marsh, where it 

 continued its feast." Dr. Welter (1935) evidently thinks that such 

 behavior is exceptional for he says: "Many nests of other species 

 of birds were under observation in the marsh and at no time were 

 punctured eggs found or other indications of egg eating by the Marsh 

 Wren observed." 



Voice. — ^Wilson (Wilson and Bonaparte, 1832) evidently did not 

 admire the vocal powers of the marsh wren, saying that "it would be 

 mere burlesque to call them by the name of song," for "you hear a low, 

 crackling sound, something similar to that produced by air bubbles 

 forcing their way through mud or boggy ground when trod upon"; 

 this is a fair description of some of the notes, but he apparently was 

 not referring to the full song, parts of which are quite musical. F. 

 Schuyler Mathews (1921) says that the song "ripples and bubbles 

 along in a fashion similar to that of the Winter or House Wren, but 

 with a glassy tinkle in tone not characteristic of the songs of the other 

 species and a tempo perceptibly more rapid than that of the House 

 Wren's music." Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) writes: "The song 

 begins with a scrape like the tuning of a violin followed by a trill 

 with bubbles, gurgles, or rattles, depending no doubt on the skill 

 or mood of the performer, at times liquid and musical, at other times 



