THE OOLOGIST. 



Vol. 8, No. 1. ALBION, N. Y., JAN. & FEB., 1886. 



\ Rl-MONTHLY. 



'( 50c. Per Year. 



One Day on Chester Island ■wri';h the 

 Marsh Wrens. 



Twelve miles below Philadelphia, in the 

 Delaware River, is situated a mass of mud, 

 reeds and dead vegetation, known as Ches- 

 ter Island. This unintere.sting marsh is 

 one mile in length by about one-quarter 

 mile in width, and is uninhabited by man. 

 Despised alike by inhabitants of l)oth 

 States between which it lies, and b}^ mar- 

 iners because of its obstruction to naviga- 

 tion, it has few redeeming points, except 

 for the naturalist. Tradition says that in 

 the Revolutionary times a fine manor house 

 stood here owned and tenanted by an Eng- 

 lishman of wealth, in which hospitality 

 was freely dispensed, and revelrj' reigned 

 supreme. Such, however, is merely here- 

 say, and to-day no evidences remain of 

 former occupancy. 



This spot, seldom visited by man, offers 

 peculiar facilities'to the Long-billed Marsh 

 Wren for niditication, being nearly covered 

 with a rank and luxurious growth of reeds 

 and splatterdocks. I had made a collect- 

 ing trip here during June, 1874, a trip, too, 

 replete with experiences, and the eleven 

 years which have since elapsed have failed 

 to efface some recollections thereof. I re- 

 call how near a permanent fixture I be- 

 came by sinking in the soft, deceptive 

 mud, how tortured, too, by a species of fly 

 with painful sting, which inhabits the 

 reeds, and how now and then one of the 

 rightful owners in the form of snake or 

 muskrat appeared, as if to dispute my in- 

 vasion of his domain. These and kindred 

 reminders came before me when the 

 thought of a second visit occurred, but 

 finally I decided that some new points re- 

 garding the habits of these wrens, some sets 

 of their little chocolate colored eggs and 

 the possibility of an encounter v.'ith the 



short-billed species, would well repay me 

 for the trouble and exertion. 



At this season (June 15th) the reeds have 

 attained their greatest height, (from 7 to 

 10 feet,) and are in their best color. A 

 perfect wilderness of them, stretched out 

 over the entire island, and growing thickly 

 together, as they do, it becomes impossible 

 to see more than ten feet distant, at any 

 one time ; the fl.oor, so to speak, is only 

 rendered solid enough to bear man's 

 weight by reason of dead reeds and grasses 

 of former years, which make a carpet suf- 

 ticientlj^ soft and velvety to the tread, to 

 suit the most fastidious; the highest of hip 

 boots are not high enough to preserve dry 

 feet, for here and there a muskrat hole or 

 natural sluiceway appears, and without 

 warning one is precipitated from an erect 

 position to one of reclining horror. This 

 is the favorite haunt of the Long-billed 

 Marsh Wren, and for many years a vast 

 colony of them have occupied the place as 

 a summer resort. This season they are 

 very numerous, probably not having been 

 disturbed for many years, and their harsh, 

 short, quickly uttered and not unpleasant 

 note (to me) is heard without intermission 

 all day, hundreds, aye thousands of nests 

 presented themselves for inspection, and 

 in a few hours, almost without being aware 

 of it, I had taken nearly 100 sets of eggs. 

 The well known habit this bird is said to 

 possess, of building one or more duplicate 

 nests, was abundantly corroborated on this 

 occasion, as upon manj'^ previous ones, I 

 observed that when one of these duplicate 

 nests was found, the nest with the eggs 

 was not more than ten feet distant. And 

 such a wonderful home they make for their 

 tiny infants to be born in, a number of 

 matted reeds, of previous years growth are 

 covered and worked with mud into a glob- 

 ular ball not unlike a cocoanut in shape; 

 this is securely fastened to the growing 



