BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 305 



I have records for this bird from Saugus, Lynnfield, Swanipscott, Hamilton, 

 and Ipswich. The bird has, however, diminished very much in numbers of late 

 years, and is now extirpated in places that it formerly frequented. 



Mr. W. A. Jeffries records a pair seen building their nest in a wooden 

 pump in constant use in Swampscott on May 19th, 1878. The birds would 

 alight on the handle, run along it and deposit their sticks in the hole at the base 

 of the handle. The gardener reported that the water had been full of sticks for 

 a week or more, but that the birds replaced them as fast as they were washed 

 out. Mr. Jeffries had the handle nailed fast and the nest was finished on May 

 26th. On June 5th, there were six eggs. 



300 [722] Olbiorchilus hiemalis (Vieill.). 

 Winter Wren. 



Uncommon transient visitor, very rare summer resident ; April 4 to May 

 (June); September 2 to October 19. 



I have no record for this bird in Essex County in winter. The only 

 summer record is that reported by Mr. Brewster^ who says that Mr. G. O. Welch 

 told him that a pair once passed the breeding season in a hemlock grove near 

 Lynn. He watched them from the middle of May to June loth when he shot 

 both birds. Their actions showed they were nesting. 



301 [724] Cistothorus stellaris (Licht.). 

 Short-billed Marsh Wren. 



Common summer resident, locally ; May 6 to September 18. 



Eggs : June 16 to July 7. 



There is a meadow in Hamilton about half a mile from the Long-billed 

 Marsh Wrens' colony where I have found this little bird. The meadow is 

 moistened by a brook, and besides the short native grasses and sedges, timothy 

 and clover intrude. There are no tall grasses nor rushes. It is probable that 

 there are a number of such places in the County. Mr. Farley reports it from 



1 Wm. Brewster: Bull. Nuttall Om. Club, vol. 8, p. 119, 1883. 



