BIRDS OF 



Nest, a ball of green moss, warmly lined with feathers ; entrance by a hole 

 at one side. 



Eggs, 5 to 6 ; white, speckled with reddish-brown. 



In Southern Ontario the Winter Wren is most frequently 

 seen during the periods of migration, but a few pairs remain and 

 raise their young iu suitable places throughout the country. 

 There is a wet cedar swamp in West Flamboro' made impene- 

 trable by fallen timber, moss-grown and going to decay. In the 

 stillness and gloom of that uninviting region I have listened to 

 the song of the Winter Wren in the month of June, and have 

 thought it one of the most pleasing specimens of bird music we 

 are privileged to hear. Tinged it may be with melancholy, but 

 there is a hopeful sprightliness about it which seems to rise above 

 the gloom of the surroundings and point to the brighter world 

 outside. I have not heard of the species being observed during 

 winter, but they arrive from the south early in April and linger 

 quite late in the fall. During the latter season they are frequently 

 seen in the city gardens, appearing and disappearing like mice 

 around the roots of the bushes. In my boyish days I was 

 familiar with the haunts and homes of the common Wren, the 

 troglodytes vulgaris of Britain, on the " banks and braes o' bonnie 

 Doon, " and believe it is identical in every respect with the 

 present species. 



GENUS CISTOTHORUS CABANIS. 



SUBGENUS CISTOTHORUS. 



286. CISTOTHORUS STELLARIS (LIGHT.). 724. 

 Short-billed Marsh Wren. 



Dark brown above, crown and middle of the back blackish, nearly 

 everywhere conspicuously streaked with white ; below buffy-white, shading 

 into pale brown on the sides and behind ; wings and tail barred with blackish 

 and light brown ; flanks barred with dusky ; throat and middle of belly 

 whitish. Length, 4^ ; wing and tail, about if; bill, not long and very 

 slender ; tarsus, middle toe and claw, together ij. 



HAB. Eastern United States and Southern British Provinces, west to 

 the Plains. Winters in the Gulf States and southward. 



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