676 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
early in March and continues to be fairly abundant in the southern part 
of the state until late in April, at which time it gives snatches of its summer 
song, but seldom the complete strain. In the fall it returns to southern 
Michigan in September, but ordinarily not until the middle or last of the 
month, though occasionally one is seen during the first week. Individuals 
linger until the last of November regularly, but the greater number move 
southward beyond our limits during October and November. The light- 
house records show no fatalities for this species during the spring, but on 
Spectacle Reef Light, Lake Huron, specimens were killed September 21, 23 
and 25, 1889, and October 6, 1890. 
During migration the bird frequents timber of almost any kind, but 
seems to prefer wind-falls, brush heaps, and the darker and more tangled 
recesses of the swamps and woods. It makes its summer home almost 
invariably among evergreens, and is an abundant nester only among the 
forests of pine, spruce, balsam and hemlock in the northern half of the 
Lower Peninsula and in the Upper Peninsula. Nevertheless, wherever 
groves of these trees are found the bird may be looked for in summer, and 
there is little doubt that it will be found nesting in favorable localities 
in all but the southernmost counties of the state. It is rarely seen far 
from the ground and is most often found creeping about brush heaps, 
old logs and dense thickets of evergreens, particularly in shady ravines 
where springs or brooks furnish abundant moisture. In such situations 
its voice may be heard constantly during the nesting season, and it is 
not likely to be mistaken for that of any other bird. 
Opinions differ widely as to the quality of the song; all agree that it is a 
very striking performance, but while many call it musical, others think 
it entirely devoid of any such quality. It consists of a series of perhaps 
« dozen notes, all uttered in a very high key, but a few of the notes nearly 
an octave higher than the rest. Different observers speak of it as weird, 
uncanny, unmusical, squeaky and shrill, but there is much individual 
variation, and the writer has frequently heard Winter Wrens singing 
when the notes were entirely devoid of any unpleasant tones, and some- 
times even decidedly musical. Ruthven and Gaige made the following 
notes on this species in Dickinson county in the summer of 1909: “It was 
heard almost daily during July and the first week in August, but after August 
6 it rapidly decreased in abundance and was not recorded after the 12th. 
It frequented the denser thickets along the river, the depths of the tamarack 
and spruce swamps, and the lower, thicker, hardwood forest. It was 
commoner in the two former habitats than anywhere else. Were it not 
for the loud clear song the species could be very easily overlooked on account 
of its exceedingly shyness, its small size and the nature of its retreats. 
As it is the song may be heard at quite a distance and is inexpressibly 
beautiful when heard in the woods. The birds seem to sing very frequently. 
No breeding record was obtained for the species.’ (Manuscript Report.) 
When singing the bird most often perches on some dead twig or root close 
to the ground, and we have never seen it singing from the top of a bush 
or from a height of more than four or five feet above the surface. Fre- 
quently it sings from the hidden depths of a brush heap or the thick tangle 
of a mass of fallen trees where the performer is entirely invisible. It 
flits, jumps and glides about in such situations with the utmost celerity 
and skill, reminding one constantly of a mouse and being almost as difficult 
to keep in sight. Peet’s observations of the bird on Isle Royale in the 
summer of 1905 are widely at variance with those of most writers. He 
