162 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The differences between these two races is much more appreciable than 

 those between Troglodytes cedon and T. " parkmaimi" ; the most striking 

 character is the much longer bill of the var. palustris. 



Specimens of the var. paludicola from the interior are paler and more 

 grayish-brown above, and have less distinct bars on the tail-coverts and tail, 

 than in Pacific coast specimens, while on the crown the brown, instead of 

 the black, largely predominates. 



Habits. The common Marsh Wren appears to have a nearly unrestricted 

 range throughout North America. It occurs on the Atlantic coast from INIas- 

 sachusetts to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and as far north 

 as Washington Territory on the west coast. A single specimen was procured 

 m Greenland. It is not, however, at all common in tliese more northern 

 latitudes. Mr. Drummond, of Sir John Eichardson's party, met with it in 

 the 55th parallel on the eastern declivity of the Ptocky Mountains and in the 

 Saskatchewan Valley. Dr. Cooper found it early in March in the salt marshes 

 along the coast of Washington Territory, and thinks it winters in that section. 

 On the Eastern coast it is not common as far north as Massachusetts, a few 

 ■ being found at Cambridge and in Barnstable County. It is abundant near 

 Wasliington, T). C, and throughout the country in all suitable locations south 

 and west from Pennsylvania. Mr. Ptidgway found it plentiful in Utah. 



They frequent low marshy grounds, whether near the sea or in the inte- 

 rior, and build in low bushes, a few feet from the ground, a well-constructed 

 globular nest. On the Potomac, where the river is subject to irregular tides, 

 they are generally not less than five feet from the ground. 



These nests are nearly spherical, and both in size and shape resemble a 

 cocoanut. They are made externally of .coarse sedges firmly interwo^■en, 

 the interstices being cemented with clay or mud, and are impervious to 

 the weather. A small round orifice is left on one side for entrance, the up- 

 per side of whicli is also protected from the rain by a projecting edge. The 

 inside is lined with fine grasses, feathers, the down of the silk-weed, and 

 other soft and warm vegetable substances. These birds arrive in the Middle 

 States early in May and leave early in September. Tliey have two broods 

 in the season, and each time construct and occupy a new nest. 



Audubon describes its nest as built among sedges, and as usually partly 

 constructed of the sedges among which the nest is built. This is the usual 

 manner in which the C. stcllaris builds its nest, but I have never known 

 one of the present species building in this manner, and in the localities in 

 which they breed, near the coast, being subject to irregular heights of tides, 

 it could not be done with safety. 



The note of the Marsh Wren is a low, harsh, grating cry, neither loud nor 

 musical, and more resembling the noise of an insect than the vocal utter- 

 ances of a bird. 



Their food consists chiefly of small aquatic insects, minute moUusks, 

 and the like, and these they are very expert in securing. 



