Mar. 1889.] 



a:n^d oologist. 



39 



warbler now before me contains three sets of 

 four each, seventeen sets of five, tliirty sets of 

 six, fifteen sets of seven, and one set of eiglit. 



./. P. .Y.] 



Nesting of the Long-billed Marsh 

 Wren. 



Alonjf tlie Delaware river, ten or twelve miles 

 below Philadelphia, there extends a series of 

 marshes drained by numerous ditches. These 

 marshe.s are covered with the long ribbon- 

 like cat-tail and calamus reeds, partially sub- 

 merged at high tide. This is the breeding 

 place of the Long-billed Marsh Wren (Telmato- 

 dytfs palustri'^) which we may consider as the 

 commonest marsli-breeding bird in this 

 vicinity. 



The Marsh Wren's nest is an almost globular 

 structure, formed by the weaving together of 

 numbei's of dead cat-tail leaves. The long di- 

 ameter of the nest is about seven, and the 

 short about five inches, in fact it is somewhat 

 tlie shape of a cocoanut with the outside 

 fibrous shell intact. The entrance is a circular 

 hole from one to one and a half inches in di- 

 ameter, and situated at tlie side, generally two 

 or three inches from the top, the entire struc- 

 ture being firmly bound to the growing reeds, 

 out of reach of the higli tides. 



The eggs, four to nine in number, are of a 

 dark chocolate color, with very minute and 

 numerous markings of a deeper brown, distrib- 

 uted over the entire surface. Some, however, 

 are almost uniform in color, and I have seen 

 several sets in which one or two eggs, except 

 at one end, were nearly white. 



In regard to their duplicate nests, as a gen- 

 eral rule, I found from three to five empty 

 nests for every one occupied. Why these du- 

 plicate nests are made we do not know, some 

 say they are built to deceive their human ene- 

 my (if man may so be called), others that tlie 

 male Wren Iniilds tliem to sleep in, and again 

 that he amuses himself l»y building them wliile 

 tlie female is sitting on the real nest, but wliat- 

 ever it is for is a problem yet to be solved. Un- 

 til I foimd out how to distinguish them, as I 

 think I have, the extra nests caused me a great 

 deal of annoyance. I. noticed that almost in- 

 variably the entrance to the occupied nests was 

 lined with cat-tail or thistle down, wliile the 

 unoccupied ones had none. 



The song of tliis Wren lias been described by 

 Wilson as a crackling sound, but to me it 

 seems more like a liquid gurgle, beginning 



slowly and growing faster. This lasts for 

 about five seconds, when there is a stop of a 

 few moments and the music begins again. 



On the near approach of anybody the bird 

 often flies straight up in the air for about ten 

 feet, and then descends in the same manner. 

 This is presumably to locate the position of the 

 intruder. The Marsh Wren, like the rest of 

 the family, can bend its tail back until it al- 

 most touches its neck. In this position he 

 creeps or rather seems to slide around the reeds 

 in search of food. F. IF. Koch. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Some Peculiar and Uncommon Birds 

 Obtained in Sank County, Wis. 



I will venture to briefly describe a few birds 

 of especial interest taken in this vicinity. 



An albino specimen of the eastern Snow-bird 

 {Junco hietnuli.s) was obtained here during the 

 winter of '8(i and '87, and is now in the collec- 

 tion of a taxidermist in an adjoining town. 

 The entire plumage of the specimen is of 

 snowy whiteness. The lengtli, extent, beak 

 and feet are normal, and, in fact, in every re- 

 spect except plumage, it is the same as those 

 of its kind. It was taken from a ilock while 

 feeding on the ground. I know of no other in- 

 stance of this kind. 



There is also in the cabinet of this collector 

 a fine specimen of the Rock Ptarmigan {Lagopua 

 rupextfis), taken by a sjiortsman during the 

 Avinter '78 and '70. Some thought it was an 

 Albino Partridge, but I am satisfied, upon ex- 

 amination, that it is a Rock Ptarmigan. Cones 

 in his Key does not regard it as even a rare visi- 

 tor to the United States. 



I had the good fortune during the winter '86 

 and "87 to olitain some fine specimens of tlie 

 Evening Grosbeak {Hesperiphona ve.spertina), 

 wliicli were seen here in considerable numbers. 

 This bird seldom visits this section, it being 

 only the second instance that has come under 

 my observation. 



During the severe cold of the winter '87 and 

 '88, three of the Little Red or Mottled Owls 

 {Scopx asio) laid down their lives in this local- 

 ity for the cause of science, one by the road- 

 side, one in a hay-mow, and another on a 

 neigh lior's porch. No doubt a more sensible 

 view of the case would be that scarcity of 

 food, together with the extreme cold, was the 

 true cause of their death. 



3/r.s. E. r. Wi.swolL 



Prairie ilu Sac, Sauk rnnnty, Wis. 



