40 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



[For the Collector's Monthly.] 

 The L-ong-billed Marsh Wren. 



(725.) Cistothorus paustris. 



The little bird is one of the most inter 

 esting little fellows I ever met. It has a 

 very sweet little song, but its cry of alarm 

 is sharp, and hard to describe. While 

 walking through the marsh you will oc- 

 casionally see their bright eyes watching 

 your every movement. 



This wren has a peculiar fashion of 

 building more nests than it can use. 

 Many times I have observed as many as 

 five or six nests, all built apparently by 

 the same birds, yet only one nest was 

 used by them. This nest building habit ; 

 some observers claim is a mere pastime. 

 They infer that the bird builds these ex- 

 tra nests for fun, but it seems to me 

 more plausible to believe that they build 

 them in order to better conceal their real 

 nest. 



Their nest externally resembles a 

 mouse nest, being a mere ball of grasses, 

 attached to and woven in with stronger 

 reeds which support it. They are usual- 

 ly about 3 ft. above water. The bird 

 enters its nest through a small aper- 

 ture in the side usually below the center; 

 so as to be invisable to a person looking 

 at the nest from above. 



The usual complement of eggs is 6 or 7, 

 but nests have been found containing 9 

 eggs. They very greatly in coloration, 

 some being a very dark brown all over, 

 others having a, very dark ring around 

 the larger end, and spotted more thinly 

 over the rest of the surface with a' lighter 

 shade of brown, while still others are 

 white spotted eventy with reddish brown. 

 Their average size is .65x.45 in; 



. Merlin C. Johnson, 

 Aberdeen, So. Dakota. 



Egg> to Exehange. 



We have just received a large consign- 

 ment of eggs from the Bridish Isles, and 

 are constantly receiving and exchanging 

 eggs. If at any time you have any de 

 sirable sets to exchange send list, stating 

 wants, etc., and we will do as well by you 

 if not better than any other party, as we 

 have a large stock to select from. 

 Address, 



CHARLES H. PRINCE. 

 Danielsonville, Conn. 



A Snow White Swallow. 



Ornithologists in Paris are much inter- 

 ested in the discovery of ararebird in the 

 shape of a snow white swallow. This 

 novel specimen of the feathered tribe came 

 to life lately in a nest which was built by 

 the parent under the eaves of a glass roof 

 covering a court in the extensive manu- 

 factory of a tradesman residing in the dis- 

 trict of Grenelle. The white bird was born 

 with two black specimens, one of which 

 flew away as soon as it was fledged, 

 whereupon the tradesman, in order to 

 keep the other two, transformed the glass 

 roofed court into a temporary aviary. 

 Photograph? have been taken of the 

 snow white swallow, and will be sent to 

 the leading naturalists of the city, one of 

 whom went t > Grenelle in order to study 

 the feathered curiosity. This gentleman 

 was, however, too late to see the bird 

 alive. It perished probably because too 

 much care was taken of it, or through 

 fright at the numbers of people who came 

 to stare at it as a natural curiosity. The 

 dead bird will now be stuffed and sent to 

 the museum at the Botanical Gardens, 

 where there is already a white magpie, 

 which still lives and hops about among 

 its companions, from which it only differs 

 in color. — Paris Letter. 



