22 The Wilson Bult.rtin — Xo. 70. 



a good nibble. After waiting patiently for half an hour, 

 therefore, T took one of the canoes and paddle into the marshes 

 in quest of interesting birds. In this expedition I was more 

 fortunate, and before I had penetrated forty feet into the 

 marsh I descried a pair of strange birds, which proved to be 

 Long-billed Marsh Wrens. They were hopping about among 

 the cat-tails, and when they saw my canoe approaching they 

 commenced scolding so vigorously and loudly that I began to 

 suspect that they had a nest in that vicinity. This theory 

 proved to be correct, for just as I was paddling past a thick 

 clump of cat-tails T caught sight of a roundish mass of dried 

 grass and weed stems, located in the undergrowth at a dis- 

 tance of two feet above the level of the marsh. The nest was 

 shaped like an English .Sparrow's, having a roof or dome 

 above, and a round entrance about three-quarters of an inch 

 in diameter in the side facing the river. The eggs, nine in 

 number, resembled House Wren's eggs, except that instead of 

 being reddish-brown, they were of a rich chocolate-brown 

 color. While T was investigating this little home, the parent 

 birds kept scolding away with desperate vigor, and while do- 

 ing so. they would often hang head downward from the reeds 

 as if overcome by anger and despair. Tn fact, their actions 

 caused me to feel as if T were some thieving kidnapper, and 

 made me wish to get away from that locality as quickly as 

 possible. Their cries were much louder and harsher than 

 those of a Hotise Wren, and their rattling song which I heard 

 a few minutc« later, was not nearly as pleasing as that of the 

 more familiar species 



During the next half hour T saw many more of these wrens 

 as I paddled about through the marsh ; in fact, with the excep- 

 tion of the Red-winged Blackbirds they were the most abund- 

 ant birds in the marsh at that season. 



After we had returned from our fishing trip and eaten a 

 hearty breakfast, I set out for a tramp through the woods and 

 swam]is back of our camp. I knew that these Canadian for- 

 ests contained manv varieties of interesting trees, most of 



