LAND BIRDS. 679 
Island, St. Mary’s River, but it seems probable that the Long-billed Marsh 
Wren was the species found there. We have no other record of the bird so 
far north, except in the Manitoba region, where however, it is abundant. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Bill .40 inch or less. 
Adult: Upper parts streaked with black, white and buff ; Wings and tail barred with 
the same colors; under parts soiled white, unspotted, shaded with pale brown across the 
breast, the sides, flanks and under tail-coverts a deeper shade of the same. Sexes alike. 
Length 3.75 to 3.50 inches; wing 1.70 to 1.90; tail 1.60 to 1.70. 
308. Long-billed Marsh Wren. Telmatodytes palustris palustris (Wils.). 
(725) 
Synonyms: Marsh Wren, Reed Wren, Cat-tail Wren, Salt-water Marsh Wren.— 
Certhia palustris, Wilson, 1810.—Troglodytes palustris, Bonap., 1824, Aud., 1831, Nutt., 
1832.—Thryothorus palustris, Bonap., 1838.—Cistothorus palustris, Baird, 1859, A. O. 
U. Check-list, 1886, part.—Telmatodytes palustris, Coues, 1868. 
Mainly brown and black above, the back alone with white streaks, 
the crown black with a median stripe of brown. Under parts white along 
the middle line from chin to belly, the sides buff or brown. 
Distribution.—Eastern United States, north to Massachusetts, Ontario 
and southern Manitoba, wintering from the Gulf States south to eastern 
Mexico and locally as far north as southern New England. Breeds through- 
out its United States and British American range. 
The Long-billed Marsh Wren is a common summer inhabitant of all 
parts of the state where suitable conditions are found. It delights in 
extensive marshes like those at St. Clair Flats and Saginaw Bay, and 
about the mouths of large rivers, particularly where reeds, rushes and 
cattail flags abound. In such locations it is found often in great numbers, 
and although most abundant in the middle and southern parts of the state, 
is by no means rare in suitable places along the south shore of Lake 
Superior. It much prefers large areas of marsh, but is occasionally found 
in small cattail swamps of an acre or even less, and here and there a pair 
may be found in the narrow fringe of rushes bordering a small pond; such 
instances, however, are unusual and not likely to occur except in regions 
where many similar spots exist in rather close proximity. 
This is a hardy bird and lingers with us until late in the fall, at least 
until the latter part of October, and in the eastern states is known to winter 
as far north as southern Massachusetts and the lower Connecticut Valley. 
In Michigan, however, it has not been recorded in winter so far as we can 
learn, moreover, it is not one of the earliest birds to return in the spring. 
At Ann Arbor Mr. N. A. Wood gives the earliest arrival for twenty-five 
years as May 6, 1904, but Mr. Eddy recorded it at Bay City as early as 
April 29, 1891. Dr. Gibbs noted it at Battle Creek April 26, 1889, and 
Mr. Swales recorded it at Detroit April 18, 1903. It is by no means un- 
likely that numerous individuals come north earlier than this, but the in- 
accessible character of the places they frequent makes it extremely un- 
likely that their presence will be noted until they begin to sing. 
The species is remarkable for the number and character of the nests 
which it builds. These are globular or ovoid, and built mainly of dead 
flags, reeds and rushes, woven into a compact mass and the cracks filled 
with decayed vegetable matter which in some cases gives the impression 
