1134 Ebpoet of State CtEologist. 



170. Genus CISTOTHORUS'Cabants. 



a^. Bill about half aa long as head; no white stripe over eye. 



Subgenus CiSTOTHOBUS. C. stellaris (Licht.). 303 



a*. Bill slender, about as long as head; a, conspicuous white stripe over the eye. 



Subgenus Telmatodytes Cabanis. C. palustris (Wils.). 304 



Subgenus Cistothorus. 



303. (724). Cistothorus stellaris (Light.). 



Short-billed IVEarsh Wren. 



Adult. — Bill Tery slender, less than a half inch long; "dark brown 

 above; crown and middle of th.e back, blackish, nearly everywhere 

 conspicuously streaked with white; below, bufEy-white, shading into 

 pale brown on the sides aiid behind; wings and tail, barred with 

 blackish and light brown; flanks, barred with dusky; throat and mid- 

 dle of belly, whitish" (Mcllwraith). 



Length, 3.75-4.50; wing, 1.72-1.90; tail, 1.58-1.70; bill, .40. 



Eange. — North America, east of Plains, from Gulf States to south- 

 ern New Hampshire, Ontario and western Manitoba. Breeds locally 

 throughout its range. Winters from Gulf States, south. 



Nest, in wild grass, 12 to 18 inches in height, or on ground; 

 placed 8 to 10 inches from top of grass; globular, hole in side, made 

 of dried grass, lined with do-mi of cat-tails or other plants; the grow- 

 ing grass so woven over and around it that it is hard to see. Eggs, 

 5-8; white, unmarked; .63 by .45. Two broods. 



The Short-billed Marsh "Wren is a migrant and summer resident. 

 It breeds in restricted localities, where the marshes are suitable, and 

 in places is found in some numbers. It is much more numerous in 

 the northwestern portion of the State. They have been found breed- 

 ing in Putnam County. In the Whitewater Valley I ha.\'e only found 

 it once. September 22 and 23, 1879, I saw several and took two 

 specimens from a swamj)y hollow about three miles from Brookville. 

 Mr. Euthven Deane informs me a nest of this species, containing 

 eggs, was taken by an employe of their club at p]nglish Lake, the 

 spring of 1889. In the collection of Mr. G. Fream Morccmi, Los 

 Angeles, Cal., is a set of five eggs of this Wren taken at Davis Station, 

 Ind., June 3, 1887. Mr. L. A. Test, of Lafayette, has received an egg 

 of this kind from Mr. P>. F. Beekman, who took it from a nest near 

 Brunswick, Lake County, in the summer of 1893. Three nests were 

 found in the rank grass along a small ditch fl-hen they were making 

 hay. I am indebted to my friend, Mr. B. T. Gault, of Glen EUyn, 

 III, for the following very carefully prepared notes on the Short-billed 



