574 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



for just the right amount of cold, or whatever it may be that 

 starts them south and, while waiting, make the marsh joyous with 

 their song. 



That the marsh wren sings at night is a habit to which we 

 do not remember to have seen any reference. It does so habitually, 

 and at all hours of the night, the song being the same as that 

 sung in the daytime, except that it seems to contain a strain of 

 sadness which renders it even more sweet. So far as we were 

 able to determine, these birds sing at night only when the air is 

 still and the moon or the stars ^hine brightly. We have heard 

 the night song also at the little pond north of the Assembly 

 grounds, and it can doubtless be heard in any of the marshes 

 which these birds frequent. Our notes make mention of the sing- 

 ing as early as May 6 and as late as October 8. 



The nesting habits of this wren are of unusual interest. The 

 nest is a large globular affair with a small opening in one side 

 supported by a number of reeds at a height of one to three feet 

 above the surface of the water. Sometimes the nest is simply 

 lashed to two or more reeds by blades of grass passing around 

 them, the ends being woven into the nest ; at other times the reeds 

 pass through the walls of the nest, which usually holds it more se- 

 curely. The nest is made of long leaves of various species of 

 grasses and of cattails and rushes, the lining being of feathers and 

 other soft material. 



The great number of these nests which one may find is always a 

 matter of wonder; there always seem to be many more nests than 

 there are birds. This is due to the curious fact, it is said, that 

 these little birds have the house-building habit so strongly de- 

 veloped that after the one necessary nest has been completed and 

 the female has entered upon her family duties, the male continues 

 to build supernumerary nests. Occasionally some of these may be 

 practically completed, but most of them are left in a more or less 

 unfinished state. 



Usually at least two broods are reared in one season, and as a 

 new nest is probably made for each brood, the number of observ- 

 able nests would usually be greater than the actual pairs of adult 

 birds. Few, if any, of these nests remain intact from one season 

 to the next. 



Definite dates of observations of this species at Lake Maxin- 

 kuckee are as follows : 



In 1899 they were noted quite frequently through July and 

 September and were still present October 4. In 1900 they were 

 heard singing July 17, and thereafter until October 8. 



