Browa, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowj Birds 



Short-billed Marsh Wren 

 (Cistothorus stellaris) Wren family 



Length — 4 to s inches. Actually about one-third smaller than the 

 English sparrow, but apparently only half its size. 



Male and Female — Brown above, faintly streaked with white, 

 black, and buff. Wings and tail barred with same. Under- 

 neath white, with buff and rusty tinges on throat and breast. 

 Short bill. 



Range — North America, from Manitoba southward in winter to 

 Gulf of Mexico. Most common in north temperate latitudes. 



Migrations — Early May. Late September. 



Where red-winged blackbirds like to congregate in oozy 

 pastures or near boggy woods, the little short-billed wren may 

 more often be heard than seen, for he is more shy, if possible, 

 than his long-billed cousin, and will dive down into the sedges 

 at your approach, very much as a duck disappears under water. 

 But if you see him at all, it is usually while swaying to and fro as 

 he clings to some tall stalk of grass, keeping his balance by the 

 nervous, jerky tail motions characteristic of all the wrens, and 

 singing with all his might. Oftentimes his tail reaches backward 

 almost to his head in a most exaggerated wren-fashion. 



Samuels explains the peculiar habit both the long-billed and 

 the short-billed marsh wrens have of building several nests in 

 one season, by the theory that they are made to protect the sit- 

 ting female, for it is noticed that the male bird always lures a 

 visitor to an empty nest, and if this docs not satisfy his curiosity, 

 to another one, to prove conclusively that he has no family in 

 prospect. 



Wild rice is an ideal nesting place for a colony of these little 

 marsh wrens. The home is made of sedge grasses, softly lined 

 with the softer meadow grass or plant-down, and placed in a 

 tussock of tall grass, or even upon the ground. The entrance is 

 on the side. But while fond of moist places, both for a home 

 and feeding ground, it will be noticed that these wrens have no 

 special fondness for running water, so dear to their long-billed 

 relatives. Another distinction is that the eggs of this species, 

 instead of being so densely speckled as to look brown, are pure 

 white. 



120 



