34 TELMATODYTES PALDSTEIS, LOXG-BILLED MARSH WEEN. 



"Once when traveling through a portion of the most gloomy part of 

 a thick and tangled wood in the great pine forest, near Mauch Chauk, 

 in Pennsylvania, at a time when I was intent on guarding myself against 

 the venemous reptiles I expected to encounter, the sweet song of this 

 Wren came suddenly ou my ear, and with so cheery an effect that I sud- 

 denly lost all apprehension of danger, and pressed forward through tl.e 

 rank briars and stiff laurels in pursuit of the bird which 14ioped was 

 not far from its nest. But he, as if bent on puzzling me, rambled here 

 and there among the thickest bushes with uncommon cunning, now 

 singing in one spot not far distant, and presently in another in a differ- 

 ent direction. After much exertion and considerable fatigile, I at last 

 saw it alight on the side of a large tree, close to the roots, and heard it 

 warble a few notes, which I thought exceeded any it had previously ut- 

 tered. Suddenly another "Wren appeared by its side, but darted off' in 

 a moment, and the bird itself, which I had followed, disappeared. I 

 soon reached the spot, vritho.ut having for an instant removed my eyes 

 from itj and observed a protuberance covered with moss and lichens, 

 resembliug the excrescences which are often seen on our forest trees, 

 with this difference, that the aperture was perfectly rounded, clean, and 

 quite smooth. I put a finger into it and felt the pecking of a bird's bill, 

 while a querulous cry was emitted. In a word, I had, the first time in 

 my life, found the nest of a Winter Wren. * * * * Externally it 

 measured seven inches in length and four and a half in breadth; the 

 thickness of its walls, composed of moss and lichens, was nearly two 

 inches ; and thus it presented internally the appearance of a narrow bag, 

 the wall, however, being reduced to a few lines where it was in contact 

 with the bark of the tree. The lower half of the cavity was compactly 

 lined with the fur of the American Hare, and in the bottom or bed of 

 the nest there lay over this about half a dozen of the large downy ab- 

 dominal feathers of our commoa Grouse, Tetrao umbellus.^' 



Audubon found six eggs iu this, and likewise in another nest that he 

 discovered. He describes them as of a delicate blush color, marked 

 with dots of reddish-brown, more numerous toward the larger end. 

 This agrees with the specimens now before Lie from a set of six taken 

 from a nest in a crevice of an old log hut, excepting that the surface is 

 thinly and evenly dotted all over, and there is, of course, no blush iu 

 the blown specimens. They measure 0.70 by 0.58. In other specimens 

 the markings chiefly encircle the larger end. A nest in tlie Smithsonian 

 is a compact hollow ball of green moss, mixed with a few pine twigs; 

 it was taken iu ilaine, where the species is stated to breed iu "wind- 

 fall" country of the evergreen woods, where the fallen trees are piled in 

 confusion. 



TELMATODYTES PALUSTRIS, (Wils.) Bd. 



Long-billed Marsh Wren. 



Ccrtlna palustris, 'Wu,?., A. O. ii, 1870, TiS, pi. 12, f. 4. — LoED, Pr. Arty. Inst, iv, Ife'G-l, 117. 



TrofilodiitcK valuHtris, Bp., Obs. Wi)s. 1625, No. 66 ; Svn. 1^28, 93.— Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. 

 ii, 1.S31. 319 (l.at. SS-^).— Xutt., Man. i. 18:W, 439.— AuD., O. B. i, 1831, 500 ; v, 

 1839, 4r;7 ; pi. 100 ; Svu. 1839, 77 ; B. A. ii, 1841, 135, pi. 123.— Giraud, B. L. I. 

 1S44, 76.— PUTX., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 18.56, 208.— SCL., P. Z. S. 1856, 290 (Cordova).— 

 ScL., Ibis, i, 1859, 8 ((Guatemala). — Xewb., P. R. E. Kep. vi, 18,57, tU. — Heukm., 

 ibid. X, 1859, pt. vi, 54. — Eeixh., Ibis, iii, 1861, 5 (Greenland). — Tkippe, Pr. Ess. 

 lust, vi, 1871, 115. 



ThryotUrus palustris, Bp., List, 1838, 11.— TuuxB., B. E. Pa. 1869, 20. 



Cistothoms {fvlmatodytes) palustris, Bl>., B. N. A. l'!;58, 364; Rev. 1864, 147. — CouES & 

 PiiEXT., Smiths. Eep. 1861, 410.— Allen, Pr. Ess. Inst, iv, 1864, 83. 



CietoHwrus palusins, Coop. & Suck., N. H. "Wash. Ter. 1860, 190.— Hayd., Eep. 1862, 

 163.— Whe,vt., OhWi^iiZe^k^ tMSfdrnft®-—^^"^^-! Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii, 



