WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. 121 



way tliey construct a kind of gablet or projection, 

 so that rain may not fall within the house ; and 

 that the entrance is always placed on the southern 

 side to protect eggs and tender young from the 

 north winds, which sometimes sweep along this 

 reedy plain. The habit of building their nests 

 within a rod or two of the higher land and never 

 far out in the middle of the swamp, also indicates 

 a great deal of prudence and forethought. They 

 have placed them near the shore to lessen the 

 chances of danger to their children when starting 

 out from their home. They must be carefully 

 watched in their first lessons of flying. A wrong 

 curve of the weak wing, or a failure in catching a 

 cat-tail spike, with their feeble claws, would send 

 them headlong into the water to perish. 



The eggs of the long-billed marsh wren are five, 

 and small for the size of the bird, not being more 

 than twice as large as a horticultural bean, and so 

 thickly covered with mahogany-brown spots as to 

 almost hide the light ground-color, with a ring of 

 chocolate around the larger end. 



A long, natural hedgerow of cat-briers separates, 

 now as I advance, the bog from the higher wood- 

 lands, climbing over and obstructing the growth 

 of shrubs and young trees, and forming excellent 



