476 



NESTS AND EGGS OF 



interwoven with Sjier materials, making the wiole impervious to the weather. The 

 inner nest is composed. 'cf grasses and fine sedges, lined with soft vegetable down. 

 Several nests are frequently built by a single pair of birds, but not more than one is 

 used. The eggs are six to eight in number, are pure white, unmarked and average 

 .64X.50. 



725. LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. Cistothorus palustris (Wils.) Geog. 

 Dist.— Eastern United States and British Provinces, wintering in the Gulf States. 



The Long-billed Marsh Wren 

 is a common species in swampy 

 places and salt marshes through- 

 out Eastern United States, where 

 it breeds in colonies of greater or 

 less extent. The nest is globular, 

 or" somewhat the shape of a co- 

 coanut,, very conspicuous by its 

 bulk and its exposed position. It 

 is built of grasses and reeds 

 closely Interwoven and often 

 plastered with mud, securely fas- 

 tened to the upright swaying reeds 

 or cat-tails; it is lined with fine 

 grasses, has a hole on one side, 

 sometimes nearer the bottom than 

 the top. A single pair of these birds 

 will often build several^ nests, 

 only one of which is ever used. 

 The eggs range from five to nine 

 in number, usually five or six; 

 they are very dark colored, being 

 so thickly marked with brown as 

 to appear of a uniform chocolate 

 color; average size .64x.45, with 

 considerable variation. 



725a. TITLE WREN. GU- 

 tothorus palustris paludicolaBaLiri. 

 Geog. Dist. — Western United 

 States, east to the Rooky Moun- 

 tains, south to Northern Central 

 America (Guatemala). 



The nesting and eggs of this 

 Western form of the Long-billed 

 Marsh Wren are the same as 

 those of C. palustris of the East- 

 ern States. It nests more gen- 

 erally among the tules, more 

 rarely among the flags. Mr. Bry- 

 ant makes note of a nest found 

 in California which contained 

 Ti5. Long-billed Maksh Wren iFroiu T/ie Osprey.) eggs and was woven among the 



almost leafless branches of a young willow, five feet above a fresh water marsh. 



The false nests were built as usual, but in the coarse grass near by. 



725. iWORTHINGTON'S MARSH WREN. Cistothorus 

 Brewst. Ge6g. Dist. — Coast region of South Carolina and Georgia. 



griseius 



