THE LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. S3 



ALASCENSis, Xo. ^ou. It occuis iiTcguhirly all along the Alaskan 

 mainland and islands. The nest is placed deep down in crev- 

 ices of rocks, and is thus rarely found, although the birds are 

 generally plentiful. A nest sent to the Museum of Comparati\e 

 Zoology, obtained in June, is "large and very compactly built, 

 being composed externallv of fine moss of a bright green color, 

 interwoven with fine roots, and lined heavily with hair and featli- 

 ers. The hairs are rather coarse and white, three to four or 

 five inches in length, and appear to be hairs of the polar bear." 

 In some situations tlie nest is globular, or roofed over, with a 

 small side-entrance. Eight to twelve eggs are laid. The two 

 in the above-mentioned Museum, collected by Mr. W. J. Mc- 

 Intvre. measure respectively .68 by .51 and .60 l)y .50 of an 

 inch. Their general color is dull wliite with a very tew minute 

 dots of reddish, so few and small as easil\ to be overlooked. 



51. THE LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. 

 TELMATODYTES PALUSTRIS ( Wils.^ Bd. 



'• This wren is a sociable — I had almost written gregarious — 

 bird, nesting usually in company with many of its kind, and 

 sometimes in colonies numbering several hundred, evenly settled 

 throughout some eligil)le reedy tract. Its nesting is an interest- 

 ing inatter, on account of the size and conspicuous appearance 

 of the structures it builds, the method of their construction, 

 and their frecjuentlv astonishing luunbers. Most .vrens are fa- 

 mous builders, indefatigal)le in c )nstructing. with infinite labor, 

 nests that seem to us preposterously large in comparison with 

 the small stature of their owners, and the marsli wren is no ex- 

 ception to the rule. But while other wrens build mainly in 

 nooks and odd out-of-the-way places, where there is opportuni- 

 ty to indulge their whims respecting the plan of their houses, 

 the marsh wrens have little choice, and must stick pretty closely 

 to a particular order of architecture. Living as they do in vast 

 tracts of reeds, or of marsh grasses resembling reeds in most 

 respects, both the site of the nests and the materials of which 



