LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. 57 



are such eccentric, entertaining little creatures, that 

 it is well worth while to hunt them out. Usually 

 there are numbers of them together, and as they all 

 talk at once and are constantly in motion, it is a very 

 lively corner of Birdland. Perched on a swaying 

 reed, with head thrown back and tail cocked so that 

 he looks half his real size, the Marsh Wren will gurgle 

 and twitter at you for perhaps half a minute, when, 

 his curiosity being satisfied, he is off about his own 

 very important business. 



The occupations of ordinary bird-life are not suf- 

 ficient for these energetic Wrens, and they amuse 

 themselves with building superfluous nests, sometimes 

 half a dozen that are never used. The nest is very 

 artistic, shaped like a ball, the entrance a hole at one 

 side. It is built over the water, in tall reeds, several 

 of which are woven into it with swamp grass. The 

 nest that is to be the home is better finished than the 

 others, and stuffed nearly full of soft bits of leaves, 

 fine grasses, and plant down. 



Marsh Wrens raise large families, often eight or 

 nine little Wrenkins crowding the grassy nest. The 

 eggs are so thickly speckled that they are of a nearly 

 uniform brown color. The food of these Wrens is 

 water-spiders, water-beetles, and other aquatic in- 

 sects. 



