476 



x i v/ EGGS <>r 



interwoven with fijier material.;, making the whole impervious to the weather. The 

 inner nest is composed cf grasses and fine sedges, lined with soft vegetable down. 

 Several nests are frequently built by a single pair of birds, but not more than one is 

 used. The eggs are si:i to eight in number, are pure white, unmarked and average 

 .64x:50. 



725. LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. Cixtotlinniit imlmttn* (Wils.) Geog. 

 Diet. East mi 1'nii. Mid British Provinces, wintering in the Gulf States. 



The Long-billed Marsh Wrm 

 is a common species in swampy 

 places and salt marshes through- 

 out Eastern United States, where 

 it breeds in colonies of greater or 

 less extent. The nest is globular, 

 or somewhat the shape of a co- 

 coanut, very conspicuous by its 

 bulk and its exposed position. It 

 is built of grasses and reeds 

 closely interwoven and often 

 plastered with mud, securely fas- 

 tened to the upright swaying reeds 

 or cat-tails; it is lined with fine 

 grasses, has a hole on one side, 

 sometimes nearer the bottom than 

 the top. A single pair of these birds 

 will often build several^ nests, 

 only one of which is ever used. 

 The eggs range from five to nine 

 in number, usually five or six; 

 they are very dark colored, being 

 so thickly marked with brown as 

 to appear of a uniform chocolate 

 color; average size .64x.45, with 

 considerable variation. 



725". TULE WREN. 

 lotliorus ixiltixtrix iHiludirola Baird. 

 Geog. Dist. Western United 

 States, east to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, south to Northern Central 

 America (Guatemala). 



The nesting and eggs of this 

 Western form of the Long-billed 

 Marsh Wren are the same as 

 those of ('. pnlnxtria of the East- 

 ern States. It nests more gen- 

 erally among the tules, more 

 rarely among the flags. Mr. Bry- 

 ant makes note of a nest found 

 in California which contained 

 SH WKKM (From I'hr (>s/>rrjf ) eggs and was woven among the 



almost leafless branches of a young willow, five feet above a fresh water marsh. 



The false nests were built as usual, but in the eoarse grass near by. 



725. WORTHINGTON'S MARSH WREN. rixinllmrux /w//*/nx 

 Brev. Dist. c a of South Carolina and Georgia. 



