BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 219 



mild winters individuals of this species are seen in the southern parts of the State. 

 The Winter Wren breeds sparingly in the more northern portions of this Common- 

 wealth, and during the winter months is very generally distributed throughout tne 

 State. Wrens are plainly attired, different shades of brown being the prevailing 

 color, These small, musical, active and quarrelsome birds are usually seen with the 

 tail erect. They hide in thickets, weeds and grasses, holes in trees or rocks, also in 

 boxes, and manifest "a fondness for prying into holes and dark places." Wrens are 

 notorious for their scolding propensity, and in this particular they are not* unlike 

 some females of the human race, whose chief object in life it would appear is to al- 

 ways annoy those about them. In writing of these birds, Dr. Coues says : "They 

 are sprightly, fearless and impudent little creatures, apt to show bad temper when 

 they fancy themselves aggrieved by cats or people, or anything else that is big and 

 unpleasant to them." Marsh Wrens, as the name would indicate, inhabit marshes 

 or swampy places along rivers ; they reside also in rank vegetation in sloughs and 

 ponds. Long-billed Marsh Wrens often nest together in colonies, and construct 

 globular nests, with small openings in the sides. These nests, suspended in herbage, 

 are usually about a foot or eighteen inches above the water. When erecting these 

 swaying houses, composed of coarse grass blades, dead leaves, lined with feathers or 

 soft vegetable materials, the little builders are careful to fix them firmly to the strong 

 coarse grasses or stems and leaves of plants which grow high above the water. Their 

 eggs, 6 and sometimes 10 in number, are a uniform chocolate-brown color. The 

 short-billed Marsh Wren is said to build a nest similar to that of the Long-billed 

 species, but its eggs differ from those of all other of our Wrens, in being white and 

 unspotted. The other of our native Wrens nest in holes of trees, hollow fence rails, 

 or in logs and stumps, in shrubbery, boxes and "various odd nooks and corners" 

 about buildings. Their eggs are white, spotted or blotched with different shades of 

 brown. The eggs of the largest species Carolina Wren measure about .75 of an 

 inch long and about .60 wide ; those of other Wrens are smaller, being about .68 

 long by .50 wide. The Wrens feed entirely on an insect diet] 



GENUS TROGLODYTES. VIEILLOT. 

 721. Troglodytes aedon. YIEILL. 



House "Wren. 



DESCRIPTION. (Plate 45.) 



Length about 4^ inches ; extent about 6f ; bill, legs and eyes brown, above brown, 

 rusty on rump and tail ; lower parts dull brownish-white or grayish-white ; more or 

 less waved or barred with darker shades back very obscurely or not at all barred. 



Hab. Eastern United States and southern Canada w r est to Indiana and Louisiana. 



Common summer resident. Arrives here usually about April 20, 

 and remains until the 1st of October. During the summer is found 

 mostly about orchards and in* shrubbery near buildings. When mi- 

 grating these birds are often seen in woods, but they seldom breed 

 there. The nest of twigs, wool, strings, feathers, hair, grasses, etc., is 

 built in various odd places holes in trees, boxes and hollow fence 

 rails are the most usual building places. They will build also in an 

 old hat, the sleeve of an old coat or back of loose weather boards on 

 buildings. In the summer of 1888, Mr. Geo. B. Sennett and the writer 

 found a nest, with four young, built in a cavity in a sand bank along 

 the roadside. The eggs, 6 to 9, mostly 7, measure about .65 long by 

 .50 wide. They are pinkish or creamy white, speckled with reddish 



