THE MUSEUM. 



•49 



the plastron back into the body cav- 

 ity and bend legs, neck and all in on 

 top of it. This makes a very compact 

 bundle for shipment and onecnot eas- 

 ily broken, while it also has a neat 

 appearance. The label is best at- 

 tached by passing its string through a 

 small hole in the skin. 



Nesting Habits of Some Southern 



Forms of Birds in Eastern 



North Carolina, 



T. GlI.BKRT I'EAKSON, IN THE JOURN.\L 

 OF THE El.ISHA MlTCHELL SCIEN- 

 TIFIC Society. 



The coastal region of North Caro- 

 lina, especially south of Hatteras, hav- 

 ing its temperature moderated by 

 warmer ocean currents affords many 

 interesting forms of life both in the 

 fauna and flora whose natural habitat 

 would naturally be looked for at a 

 much more southern point. Thus the 

 palmetto Sabal pahiictto) whichgrows 

 wild to a height of 30 feet on Smith's 

 Island is also found in a more stunted 

 form as far north as the banks ofCa^e 

 Hatteras. This northward extension 

 of the habitat of some southern birds 

 is somewhat in keeping with that of 

 the rtora. 



While spending sometime in eastern 

 North Carolina during the past sum- 

 mer I observed there some species of 

 southern birds which have hitherto 

 been overlooked by ornithologists as 

 occuring within the limits of this state; 

 and my purpose in publishing the_ fol- 

 lowing notes is to record such of these 

 observations as may be of interest. 



Worthington's Marsh Wren. {Cis- 

 tot/torus pains tris griseits. ) 



The range of this bird as given by 

 Mr. Brewster and later by Frank M. 

 Chapman in his "Handbook of Birds 

 of Eastern North America" is the 

 "Coast of South Carolina and Geor- 

 gia." In the marsh on (iull Island in 

 Pamlico sound about twenty miles 

 north of Cape Hatteras marsh wrens 

 were found in great numbers on May 

 20th. The island which is appro.xi- 



mately two hundred acres in extent is 

 little more than a continuous salt 

 marsh over the greater part of which 

 the water rises at high storm tides. 

 At the time of my visit the birds were 

 in full song and from every side of the 

 marsh came the notes of scores of 

 birds. While singing the performers 

 usually occupied positions entirely out 

 of sight except as occasionally they 

 would make short flights upward and 

 burst into song as they dropped back 

 again into the cover of the high thick 

 grass. 



It was evidently too early in the 

 season for the birds to be breeding for, 

 of the twelve nests found and exam- 

 ined, there were none that contained 

 either eggs or young. The nests were 

 suspended among the grass stalks at 

 distances varying from sixteen to twen- 

 ty inches above the ground or shallow 

 waters. They were entirely roofed 

 over and varied in form from almost 

 round to elliptical. They were com- 

 posed of the dead stems and blades of 

 marsh grass neatly wound and woven 

 together while the material was yet 

 damp, thus forming a strong and very 

 durable structure. The entrance was 

 a small opening in the side near the 

 top of the nest. 



A specimen taken at this time was 

 identified by Mr. C. S. Brimley, of 

 Raleigh, N. C. , as being a Worthing- 

 ton's Marsh Wren. 



On June the 9th I heard wrens sing- 

 ing in the marshes near Southport 

 which I took to be of this species, but 

 as no specimens were secured I shall 

 not claim this as a record. 



During July and the early part of 

 August wrens were frequently heard in 

 the salt marshes about Beaufort har- 

 bor. A visit to some of the marshes 

 on August the 2d resulted in the find- 

 ing of a few empty nests and securing 

 after much labor a single specimen. 

 Wishing to be certain as to the identi- 

 fication of this the skin was sent to 

 Prof. Ridgway of the Smithsomiam 

 Institution who identified it as being a 

 fair type of C. p. grisius. 



