70 SINGING BIRDS — OSCINES 



clinging to them sideways M'liere none are jjrostrate, and rarely flying more 

 than a few yards at a time. 'J'lieir ibod consists entirely of insects, which 

 they capture at rest. 



In the spring, and less often during the rest of tlie year, the males may 

 be seen flying up a few feet above the marsh, singing a slirill and quaint, 

 but rather musical ditty, Avith a sort of gurgling sound, as if coming 

 through the water below them. There is no variety in this song, with time 

 or locality. 



The nest is constructed of reeds and sedges, interwoven in an oval form, 

 about six inclies long and four wide, having an opening in the side, and a 

 small internal cavity. Tlie rushes are wet when used, and mud is mingled 

 in tlie walls to give more tenacity. It is lined with fine grass, and some- 

 times feathers, the whole being suspended among the rushes by strong 

 bands passing round them, or it sometimes rests ou those that are bent 

 down, and is also tied to others still standin"-. The e<!os are six or eisht, 

 of a dark fawn, almost mahogany color. (Nuttall.) 



Few nests are found inhabited near together, and it is supposed that the 

 males spend much of their spare time in building nests that are never used, 

 as does the house-wren. Audubon says that they build a new nest for the 

 second brood annually. Sometimes a single marsh will be seen to contain 

 hundreds of these nests within a short distance of each other. 



Family MOTACILLID^. 



Chak. Bill slender, sliorter than the head, notched at the tip ; rictus 

 without bristles. Basal joint of middle toe entirely free externally. Tarsi 

 distinctly scutellate, longer than the middle, but nearly equal to the hind 

 toe, which is very long, exceeding all the others ; the cbnv slightly cur\-ed. 

 Wing very long, pointed ; first quill almost the longest ; the tertials con- 

 siderably longer than the secondaries. Tail emarginate. 



This family is represented in ISTorth America by three genera : two, An- 

 thus and Ncocorys, belonging to the Western United States. The thii-d 

 genus, Motacilla, not unfrequently occurs in the Northeastern States, or 

 near their borders {Motacilla alba), and is e^-en recorded as belonging to the 

 country about Behring's Straits, -where it is probable that the exjjlorers of 

 tlie liussian Telegraph Company will find it. It has a very great develop- 

 ment in Europe and Asia. South America has several species of Anihus, 

 all, however, of a group quite difterent from that to which A. Ludoviciamis 

 belongs, and characterized l.iy shorter and more rounded wings. 



