70 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



are brown. This bird is common in reedy marshes, but because 

 of its shy, suspicious habits, needs careful, quiet searching. 

 Its grumbling notes can readily be heard, and if it were not 

 for its inquisitive nature, which leads it to expose itself for a 

 second or two to see its visitor, it would be impossible to 

 observe it. 



Length, 5|; wing, 2 (1|-2J-); tail, 1|; tarsus, |; culmen, \. Eastern 

 United States north to Ontario; breeding throughout, and wintering (lo- 

 cally) from southern New England southward. Worthington's Marsh 

 Wren (725''. C. p. griseus), found along the coasts of South Carolina and 

 Georgia, is a lighter colored, more grayish and more faintly barred and 

 striped bird. Wing, If; tail, 1|; bill, J. Marian's Marsh Wren (726-1. 

 Cistothorus marianae) of western Florida is a darker bird than the long- 

 billed marsh wren, and has the sides and flanks of the same brown as the 

 rump. The under tail coverts and sometimes the breast are spotted with 

 black. Wing, If ; tail, If; bill, \. 



FA.MILY VI. WAGTAILS, PIPITS (MOTAClLLIDiE) 



A family (80 species) of mainly Old World, ground-living, 

 tail-wagging, walking or rimning birds, represented in our re- 

 gion by two species a little larger than the English sparrow. 

 They are usually to be found in open pastures, meadows, and 

 recently plowed fields. The tail is very long, usually as long 

 as the wings, and is moved in a peculiar see-saw way, as though 

 to enable the bird to balance itself. This habit is also common 

 among snipe, though they have short tails. 



The bill is slender, acute, shorter than the head, and notched at tip. 

 The inner secondaries are lengthened, about as long as the primaries in 

 the closed wing ; feet large, and the hind nail long and nearly straight. 



1. American Pipit (697. Anthus pensilvdnicus). — A common, 

 dark-olive-brown-backed, tail-twitching bird, with buffy under 

 parts marked on the breast with brownish dots like the 

 thrushes. This is a walking bird of the open fields, and in its 

 vacillating flight the white outer tail feathers can be seen. 

 The pipits are social birds seen in numbers (5-20), more or less 

 together while feeding, but usually flying in larger flocks when 

 startled. (Titlark; Wagtail.) 



