WRENS 59S 



S., 19. p. 445) as nearly as it can be traced out seems to refer 

 to the taking of nests and eggs near Bangor by Mr. Bowler. 



It is possible that the species occurs elsewhere in Maine and 

 has been overlooked. There have been reports brought to me 

 of its occurring at Hudson and also on the meadows along 

 Great Works Stream,* but in the absence of the needful specific 

 proof I feel compelled to reject these records, even while 

 admitting that it is my belief that they will ultimately be found 

 correct. The birds are secretive and unless their song is heard 

 by somebody who knows it or investigates it as something new 

 and unknown to him, there is no probability of their being 

 noticed in haunts they have frequented for years. 



For years I passed by, through and around their meadow 

 home near Bangor without getting the least proof that they 

 were present there, once in a while getting a fleeting glimpse 

 of a bird that (as I reported in List of Birds of Maine, p. 141) 

 it seemed must be a Marsh Wren. Finally one day when 

 passing along, the characteristic song "chip — chip — chip — 

 chip, chip-chip-chip-chir-r-r-r-r-r" was heard which, while of 

 course utterly different in timbre, reminded me of the song of 

 the Pallid Wren Tit, for though harsh and lacking the bell 

 like resonance of the Wren Tit's song it was uttered with 

 much the same accentuation and syllaballization. As the song 

 rang out again and again, the sage-covered mesas and slopes 

 of southern California came to my mind, and in memory the 

 panoramic record of many past experiences with birds there 

 passed before me. Finally the persistent repeating of the song 

 mingled with that of the White-throated Sparrow and other 

 eastern birds brought out the realization that I was in the 

 State of Maine, and that here was a bird song, new to me, 

 being repeated from here, there and thither in the meadow. 

 Investigation resulted in securing the first Short-billed Marsh 

 Wren known to me from the region. Investigation seemed 



* A colony of at least 100 pair was found by me on extensive meadows in Glenbum in 1907, 

 since this article was written, and I have observed them there in early July, 1938. 



