52 THE BIOLOGICAL REVIEW. 



Ontario are few and little known, and it is interesting to know 

 of one breeding ground having been found where it is steadily 

 common. 



On June 17, 1891, while botanizing in the bed of the drained 

 " Lake Wawanosh," near Sarnia, without a gun, I heard some 

 birds singing which, after careful study, I decided belonged to 

 this species, but I could not positively identify them by reason 

 of the lack of the necessary implements. On May 30, 1892, I 

 visited the same place again, prepared for business, and settled 

 the doubt by the capture of two specimens of this species. 

 There appeared to be a fair sprinkling of the birds, but I could 

 find no trace of a nest, old or new, which led me to guess that 

 they breed on the ground in that locality, contrary to the 

 accepted ideas of their habits. The patches of bulrushes in the 

 basin were few and small, and I am positive contained no nests. 

 The song of this bird, though similar to that of the Long-billed 

 Wren, differs sufficiently for one to distinguish it readily ; in 

 fact, when I heard the first song in 1891 I thought it was a 

 Dickcissel, and the resemblance between the songs of the two- 

 Wrens, while near enough to establish a relationship, is not 

 close enough to deceive a practical ear. The peculiar part of 

 the affair to me was the entire absence of the Long-billed Wren, 

 and the fact of the birds living away from the bulrushes, in the 

 region of the long marsh grass. I was informed the other day 

 that Mr. Joseph Beck, of Plover Mills, Middlesex County,, 

 observed a pair of small Wrens, which he could not identify, in 

 a field of long grass, where they spent the summer ; and in the 

 light of their habits at Wawanosh, it seems entirely probable 

 that they may have been of this species, as Mr. Beck is well 

 acquainted with both the House and the Winter Wrens. 



London, Out. W. E. Saunders. 



THIRD SPECIMEN OF ARDETTA NEOXENA 

 • TAKEN AT TORONTO. 



The first notice we have of this species being found in 

 Ontario is recorded in a note by Mr. W. Cross, in Proc. Orn.. 

 Sub-section of Canadian Institute, 1890-91, p. 41, where it is. 



