PLATE LVIII. LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. 



Cistothorus palustris. 



Above reddish-brown ; head and back of the neck black, sometimes 

 streaked with white ; beneath white, shaded on the sides with brown ; 

 wings and tail much barred, the latter short and rounded ; a pale 

 streak over the eye. Length, 5.20 inches. 



Migratory. Arrives late in May, leaves early in October. Builds a nest much like a 

 cocoanut in size and shape, with a hole for entrance near the top. This it attaches to the 

 reeds and rushes growing in swamps or marshes. 



Wilson calls its song " a low, crackling sound, somewhat similar to that produced by 

 air bubbles forcing their way through mud or boggy ground when trod upon." 



DeKay more truthfully says that the bird is "highly musical," but adds, curiously 

 enough, " It breeds * * probably (!) in this State (N.Y.), but I have not yet met with 

 its nest." The writer has found the bird a very common one ; he has seen many of its 

 nests ; and, in his judgment, its song is nearly as important as that of the House Wren, 

 and somewhat similar to it. 



At a junction of the railroad track which leads into Flushing, Long Island, where 



'93 



