350 USEFUL BIRDS. 



breast unstreaked ; and it sings all summer long about the 

 bushy margins of grassy swamps and marshes and in the 

 reeds or bush clumps of river meadows. Its song slightly 

 resembles that of the Chipping Sparrow, but is more varied 

 and pretentious. Its sharp chink and busy chirping as it 



fusses about its lowly nest greet 

 the ears of the canoeist as he floats 

 down the placid stream. 



Another bird whose song is 

 commonl}'^ heard along the shores 

 of marshy rivers is the Long- 

 billed Marsh Wren ( TeJmafod>/fes 

 Fig. 153. -Swamp Sparrow, about JwJusfris ^w/?<,sVr/.s) , fouud near 

 two-thirds natural size. streams aloug the coast, and up 



the river valleys of eastern Massachusetts ; but it is not 

 so common in the central or western counties except along 

 the Connecticut Eiver. It sings among the reeds, cat- 

 tails, and marsh grasses, a voluble, joyous, typical Wren 

 song, which is kept up all day and may often be heard at 

 night. It is an unmistakable Wren, with cocked tail and 

 rapid, nervous motions. The Short-billed Marsh Wren 

 (^Oistothorus stellaris) is one of the smallest of birds. It is 

 not as common as the other species, and frequents sedgy 

 meadows and Avet lands alono- brooks. Its sono- more nearly 

 resembles that of a Sparrow than that of the typical Wren. 

 Marsh Wrens build the little globular nests, each with an 

 opening in the side, that are found among the cat-tails or the 

 meadow grass. 



RAILS. 



Rails are confined to the shores of ponds and rivers or to 

 marshes and wet meadows, where they skulk amid the rushes, 

 cat-tails, grasses, and water plants, and are more often heard 

 than seen. The old saying, "As thin as a rail," might have 

 originally been applied to these birds, for their bodies are so 

 thin that they readily slip between the stems of the grasses. 

 Although no longer as plentiful as in the past, they still 

 breed here, and many pass through the State in migration. 



The two common species are the Virginia Rail {Ralhis 

 virginianufi) and the Carolina or Sora Rail {^Porzana caro- 



