480 WRENS 



struck together, may be heard in a dozen directions for a quarter of 

 an hour before one of the birds comes in view, so careful are they to 

 keep concealed among the protecting sedge. The ordinary song of 

 the species has much the same timbre as the call-note; it resembles the 



syllables chap chap chap-chap, chap chap-chap-chap-p-p-rrrr; but 



during the height of the love season it vents its feelings in a much more 

 ambitious refrain, one which, while it is everywhere varied and in parts 

 very musical, is still conspicuous for the amount of chappering that 

 enters into its composition. While singing, it is usually seen clinging to 

 the side of some tall swaying reed with its tail bent forward so far as 

 almost to touch the head, thus exhibiting in an exaggerated manner a 

 characteristic attitude of all the Wrens. 



This is less a species of the deep-water marshes than is the long- 

 billed member of the genus, and often it will be found in places that are 

 little more than damp meadows. It is remarkably mouselike in its 

 habits and movements, and can be flushed only with extreme difficulty. 



ERNEST THOMPSON SETON. 



725. Telmatodytes palustris palustris (Wils.). LONG-BILLED 



MARSH WREN. Crown unstreaked, its sides black, its center olive-brown, 

 a white line over eye; middle of back black broadly streaked with white; 

 rest of back cinnamon-brown; middle tail-feathers narrowly, outer tail- 

 feathers broadly barred; below white, the sides and flanks pale cinnamon- 

 brown sometimes extending to breast; under 

 tail-coverts rarely barred. Specimens in worn 

 breeding plumage are grayer. 



Range. E. U. S. Breeds in Transition 

 and Upper Austral zones from s. Ont. and s. 

 Que. s. to the Potomac Valley and coast of 

 Va.; winters from s. N. J. to S. C. and 

 casually to Fla. ; casual in N. B. 



Washington, very numerous S. R., Apl. 

 15-Nov. 1. Ossining, common S. R., May 10- 

 FIG. 133. Long-billed- Marsh Oct. 28. Cambridge, locally abundant S. R 

 Wren. (Natural size.) May 15-Oct. 1; sometimes a few winter. N. 



Ohio, common S. R., Apl. 21-Sept. 20. Glen 

 Ellyn, fairly common S. R., May 16-Oct. 10. 



Nest, globular, the entrance at one side, of coarse grasses, reed stalks, 

 etc., lined with fine grasses, attached to reeds or bushes. Eggs, 5-9, uni- 

 form chocolate or minutely speckled or thickly marked with cinnamon- or 

 olive-brown, '65 x *49. Date, D. C. f June 4; Cambridge, June 12. 



If you would make the acquaintance of this Marsh Wren, you have 

 only to visit his home in the cattails and tall, reedy grasses bordering 

 rivers, creeks, and sloughs. It will be unnecessary to announce yourself; 

 he will know of your presence long before you know of his, and from 

 the inner chambers of his dwelling will proceed certain scolding, caching 

 notes before this nervous, excitable bit of feathered life appears on his 

 threshold. With many flourishes of the tail and much bobbing and 

 attitudinizing, he inquires your business, but before you have had time 

 enough to inspect him he has darted back into his damp retreats, and 

 you can tell of his frequently changing position only by his scolding, 

 grabbling notes. 



