TROGLODYTES. 195 
about the last week in May: it is constructed of grasses and 
sedges, and is pensile, or rather suspended in tall grass in 
fresh-water meadows, which is woven into the body of the 
fabric. ° I have never noticed any mud in the materials, and 
doubt if any is used. The entrance is on the side; itis a 
small hole, just under the greatest bulge of the nest: the 
whole fabric is lined with soft down from flying-seeds, and 
sometimes a few feathers. The eggs are sometimes eight or 
nine in number, usually about six: their color is pure-white, 
and the shell is extremely thin and brittle. The dimensions 
vary from .57 by .44 to .50 by .40 inch. But one brood is 
reared in New England. 
The habits of this bird are not so well known as those of 
the preceding, as it is a much more shy bird, and always 
avoids the presence of man. When its nest is approached, 
it hovers near the intruder, chattering and scolding in a 
violent manner. It is hardly ever seen in the neighborhood 
of the salt water, and seems to be found only in the mead- 
ows in the vicinity of fresh water: its food consists princi- 
pally of small insects, and spiders, which it is almost 
constantly employed in capturing. Its song is short, and 
consists of a repetition of the syllables, ’che, chet, de-de-de- 
de-de. This is uttered when the bird is perched on a low 
bush, or tuft of grass. A peculiarity of this bird, and also 
of the preceding species, is its habit of building a number of 
nests in the same season: it is believed by many persons, 
that this is done to secure protection; because, when a 
person searches for the nest occupied by the female, the 
male always decoys the intruder to the neighborhood of one 
of these empty ones. 
TROGLODYTES, Vre.ttor. 
Troglodytes, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept., II. (1807) 52. (Type TJ. edon.) 
Wings longer than the tail, or nearly equal; tail rounded, the lateral feathers 
graduated; hind claw shorter than the rest of the toe; back brown, obsoletely 
waved with dusky; bill nearly as long as the head. 
