Cis t othorus stellaris . Nesting 16 miles from 



Brewer, Maine, 



Copy. 



Friend Brewster, 



X X X X X. Lately a hunt,er de- 

 scribed the nests & eggs of a bird he found nestixig every 

 year in large numbers in Great Works Meadows - some 16 miles 

 from here. He said that the nests were in the meadow grass 

 and fastened to the stalks or else to some small bush among 

 the grass - that they were covered, and entered by a hole in 

 the side - that the eggs were white - that the bird stuck its 

 tail up like a wren - and that he found the nests & eggs 

 while haying in July. This description fits the Short-billed 

 Marsh Wren. As this man certainly never read any bird book 

 in his life, and is a reliable man, it seems certain that this 

 bird breeds regularly every year, though I never to my knowl- 

 edge ever saw one or ever heard of one before in this part of 

 Maine. It seems as if both this and . the rails were regular 

 breeders in the described localities but probably not often 

 found elsewhere in this vicinity, x x x x x x 



Very truly, 



1,^ . Hardy . 

 Brewer, Maine, Sept. 15, 1901. 



