Nesting of the Short-Billed Marsh 

 Wren. 



Not having seen anything in tlie O. & O. 

 aboiit tlie Short-billed Marsh Wren {Cisto- 

 thorus stMaris) I thought it might be of inter- 

 est to some of its readers to hear my experience 

 with them. 



In a narrow belt of thick, wild grass near the 

 edge of a marshy piece of ground, having a 

 small stream running through the centre 

 covered with a dense growth of cattail flags 

 with now and then a bunch of willows, is 

 where I first saw the Short-billed Marsh 

 Wren and afterwards found their nests. Al- 

 though I have done considerable collecting in. 

 the same locality for the past few years 1 have 

 never seen or heard one of the birds there until 

 this year, and I think they have not been there , 

 before. 1 



On June 3d I saw but one pair there, and 

 others came at different times until on July 

 6th there were four pairs in the marsh. 



On June 12th there was a nest completed, 

 and supposing there would be eggs laid in it I 

 left it, and afterwards found it to be nothing 

 but a duplicate nest. On the 22d I found a 

 nest in the same vicinity containing some pieces 

 of shells, the eggs having been broken in some 

 way. 



On July 6th I collected two sets of their 

 eggs, one of three fresh ones — an incomplete 

 set. These were within a few yards of where 

 I found the nest containing the broken ones, 

 and I think they were laid by the same bird. 

 In the other set there were seven, with iiicuba- 1 



I tion advanced. ] 

 I also found two nests of another pair, and 



I a week later they had another nest completed, 



' and on the 20th I went there and cc.tdil neither . 



j see nor hear a wren in the marsh. I was there j 

 again afterwards and could find none, so i| 



! supposed they had all left, but on Aug. 13th ray , 



i" father, in company with a young man (who is 

 interested in birds), being near there thought 

 he would show him some of their nests, so he 

 found one, and supposing it to be empty stuck 

 his finger into the ( ntrance and broke one egg 

 out of a set of six that it contained, the re- 

 mainder of which he got out, and although 

 they were badly incubated I saved them all: 

 right. 



The nests were built in the wild grass about 

 one and one half feet high, being about eight 

 or ten inches from tlie top of the grass. 

 They are globular in shape with a small hole 

 in one side for an entrance. The inner nest 

 is composed of the dead blades of wild grass, 

 lined with cattail down, having tlie green 

 grass woven around it so as to conceal the dry 

 grass of the nest, making them difficult to find. 



Like their Long-billed cousin they build 

 four or five duplicate nests. The duplicates 

 are not as nicely built as the ones containing 

 eggs, and have none of the soft downy lining 

 of the others. 1 usually found the male bird 

 in some bush within a few rods of the nests, 

 singing his song of chip, chip, per chick, 

 chick, chick and chip, chip, chr-r-r-r, uttered 

 distinctly. 



The stomach of a male that I collected con- 

 tained numerous small insects. 



The eggs are pure white, unmarked; set one 

 are nearly elliptical in shape, and measure as 

 follows: .63x.4'7, .63 X.46 and .63X.48. Set 

 two are of the usual shape, and measure 

 .62X.47, .60X.48, .!)9 x .47, .61 x .47, .64x.48, 

 .60X.48 and .61 X. 49. Set three are shaped 

 like set two and measure .60x.46, .58x.44, 

 .59 X. 45, .61 X. 46 and .61 x .45. 



Although Davie says they are very fragile, I 

 only found one egg in the lot that seemed any 

 more so than is usual among eggs of their 

 size. E. W. Burfee. 



Wayne Co., Mich. 



Clstothorus atellaris . 



A OompariBon of the nostins habits of the 

 Long -billed and Short-billed Ivlarsh Wren. 



C .V/. Bowles. 

 0.5cO.Vol .18, Jan.l39;-5, pp. 3-11. 



See under Cistothorus -oalustris 



