370 . DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



bird, nesting anywhere about houses, in bird-boxes, or under the 

 thatched roofs of straw sheds, in outbuildings, or in deserted 

 Woodpeckers' holes in the woods. The nest is very large and 

 bulky, the Wren seeming determined to carry in enough twigs to 

 fill the nesting cavity, no matter what its size. Two or three 

 broods are reared in a season. The House Wren is an exceed- 

 ingly energetic songster throughout the summer. 



Genus Olbiorchilus Oberholser. 



333. (722). Olbiorchilus hiemalis (Vieill.). Winter Wren. 



The Winter Wren is a rather rare migrant but occurs in most 

 portions of the state, most commonly in April and October. It 

 was reported as a common winter resident in Lee county by Cur- 

 rier and rare in winter by Praeger, but an abundant migrant ; as 

 a rare winter visitant in Pottawattamie (Trostler), and a rather 

 uncommon but regular winter resident upon the bluffs of the Mis- 

 sis.sippi at Burlington (Bartsch, Iowa Orn., iii, 2, 1897, p. 23). 

 The Winter Wren is much shyer than the common House Wren 

 and usually is found in old wood and brush heaps and thick 

 shrubbery and brambles along ravines and creeks. B. H. Wilson 

 observed the species in Scott county but four times in spring dur- 

 ing five years' observation; from April 13 to 30; more common 

 in fall; observed from September 21 to November 8. In Winne- 

 bago county I only observed one specimen during .several years' 

 collecting, taking a female specimen April 17, 1897; M. E. Hal- 

 vorsen, however, reports a specimen observed at Forest City in 

 December, 1903. It is doubtful whether the Winter Wren breeds 

 in Iowa at the present time, although W. W. Cooke states that 

 "Mr. Preston has found it as a not common breeder in central 

 Iowa" (Bird Migr. in Miss. Val., 1884-85, pp. 178-79). 



Genus Cistothorus Cabanis. 



Subgenus Cistothorous Cabanis. 



334. (724). Cistothorous stellaris (lyicht.). Short-billed Marsh 



Wren. 



The Short-billed Marsh Wren is a tolerably common migrant in 



all parts of the state and a summer resident in favorable localities 



from the latter part of April until the latter part of October. It 



is much less common than the Long-billed Marsh Wren, and as a 



