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724. Short-billed Marsh Wren. Cistothorus steUaris. L, 4. A very small 
Wren; light below and decidedly streaked in wood-browns above and on crown. 
Distinctions. A small Wren, sharply 
streaked above to crown (Figure 308). 
Field Marks. A small Wren with streaked 
back and crown, inhabiting dry marsh and grass. 
Nesting. In dry marshes, amidst the grass. 
Nest a globular structure of green grasses, placed 
low down near the ground. Many false nests 
are built in the grass tops in the vicinity of the 
one occupied. 
Distribution. Eastern North America. In 
Canada, the southern parts of the Dominion 
west to central Saskatchewan. 
The Short-billed Marsh Wren is local and irregular in its distribution; 
it may be present one year in a locality and absent the next, and little is 
really known of its distribution in Canada. It frequents damp, grassy 
marshes rather than wet swamps and is usually found in little colonies. 
It is shy and difficult to find in its regular haunts, and its voice is entirely 
different from that of the Long-billed Marsh Wren with which it may occa- 
sionally be confused. 
725. Long-billed Marsh Wren' (Including Prairie and Western Marsh Wrens 
and Tule Wren). Telmatodytes palustris. L, 5-2. A richly coloured Wren with dark 
brown, or almost black, mantle falling from hindneck over shoulders which are streaked 
with white; all remainder above brownish-red; 
creamy-white below, with flanks washed with light 
brown. 
Distinctions. A Wren with a streaked back 
and a uniformly coloured crown. 
Field Marks. A Wren inhabiting wet cat- 
tail or tule marsh, streaked on back, plain on 
crown, and with a decided eyebrow-line (Figure 
309). 
Nesting. Near the top of the reeds or rushes 
in wide, wet marshes; nest, a ball of dead cat-tail 
leaves, grass, or reeds. Unlike many other marsh- 
haunters this species is not attracted by marshes 
of small size. A swampy pool a few yards across 
attracts the Red-wing and perhaps a Rail or two, 
but the Long-billed Marsh Wren demands a 
considerable area. An interesting trait of the 
Marsh Wren is the habit of building numerous sham nests near the one really occupied. 
The use made of these nests is not known, but as many as eight or nine nests that can be 
reasonably attributed to the efforts of one pair may at times be found. 
Distribution. United States and southern Canada. Across the Dominion. 
SUBSPECIES. Four subspecies of this species are recognizable in Canada. The 
Eastern Marsh Wren Telmatodytes palustris 'palustris extends west to the Great Lakes. 
The bird of Manitoba and west to the mountains is the Prairie Marsh Wren Telmatodytes 
palustris iliacus. a lighter coloured bird, especially on the back, where the dark cape is less 
continuous and the light browns tend toward ochre. The Western Marsh Wren Tel- 
matodytes palustris plesius inhabits the interior of British Columbia; it is like the prairie 
bird, but the breast is dirty greyish instead of white or washed with clear tawny. On the 
coast we have the Tule Wren Telmatodytes palustris paludicola, a generally much darker 
bird than any of the above. 
Wide watery tule swamps or quaking bogs grown with cat-tails and 
reeds are the places to expect the Long-billed Marsh Wren. Here in the 
reedy tangle just above the water it climbs and creeps about, scolding occa- 
sionally but usually keeping well from sight. At a safe distance from the 
Long-billed Marsh Wren; natural size. 
Figure 308 
Short-billed Marsh Wren; natural size. 
