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THE MARSH WREN. 



Troglodytes PALUsTRis, Cu.'QoMKp. 



PLATE G. Male, Female, and Nest. 



The haunts of this interesting little bird are, in the Middle Districts, 

 the margins of rivers at their conflaence with the sea, and the adjoining 

 marshes of our Atlantic shores. In such places, the Mafsh Wren is 

 found in great numbers, from the beginning of April to the middle of 

 October, when it retires southward, many individuals wintering on the 

 south-western shores of the Floridas, and along the mouths of the Mis- 

 sissippi. 



It is a homely little bird, and is seldom noticed, unless by the natu- 

 ralist, when searching for other species, or by children, who in all coun- 

 tries are fond of birds. It lives entirely amongst the sedges, flags, and 

 other rank plants that cover the margins of the rivers, and the inlets of 

 the sea. Its flight is very low and short, and is performed by a conti- 

 nued flirting of the wings, but without the motions of the tail employed 

 by the Great Carolina Wren. Its song, if song I can call it, is com- 

 posed of several quickly repeated notes, resembling the grating of a rusty 

 hinge, and is uttered almost continuously during the fore part of the day, 

 the performer standing perched on the top of a tail weed, from which, on 

 the appearance of an intruder, it instantly dives into the thickest part of 

 the herbage, but to which it returns the moment it thinks the danger 

 over, and renews its merry little song. 



The males are extremely pugnacious, and chase each other with great 

 animosity, until one or other has been forced to give way. This disposi- 

 tion is the more remarkable, as these birds build their nests quite close to 

 each other. I have seen several dozens of these nests in the course of a 

 morning ramble, in a piece of marsh not exceeding forty or fifty acres. 



The nest is nearly of the size and shape of a cocoa-nut, and is formed 

 of dried grasses, entwined in a circular manner, so as to include in its 

 mass several of the stems and leaves of the sedges or other plants, among 

 which it is placed. A small aperture, just large enough to admit the 

 birds is left, generally on the south-west side of the nest. The interior 



