188 
SHORT-BILLED MA.RSH WREN. 
Troglodytes brevirostris. Nutt. 
PLATE CXXIY. — Male, Female, and Nest. 
I hope, kind reader, you will approve of the liberty which I have taken 
in prefixing the name of my friend Nuttall to the present species, which 
was discovered by his indefatigable and enthusiastic devotion to science, in a 
country where Wilson, Bonaparte, Bachman, Pickering, Cooper, Say, 
and others had already exerted themselves to ihe utmost in their endeavours 
to complete its diversified and interesting Fauna. I hope, too, that you will 
allow me to present you with the history of this sweet little inhabitant of 
our freshwater marshes, as given by him. 
“ This amusing and not unmusical little spev'ies inhabits the lowest’marshy 
meadows, but does not frequent the reed flats. It never visits cultivated 
grounds, and is at all times shy, timid, and suspicious. It arrives in this 
part of Massachusetts about the close of the first week in May, and retires 
to the South by the middle of September at farthest, probably by night, as 
it is never seen in progress, so that its northern residence is only prolonged 
about four months. 
“ Its presence is announced by its lively and quaint song of tsh, tship, a 
day , day, day , day, delivered in haste and earnest at short intervals, either 
when he is mounted on a tuft of sedge, or while perched on some low bush 
near the skirt of the marsh. The tsh, tship, is uttered with a strong aspira- 
tion, and the remainder with a guttural echo. While thus engaged, his head 
and tail are alternately depressed and elevated, as if the little odd performer 
were fixed on a pivot. Sometimes the note varies to tschip, tschip, tshia, 
dli, dh, dli, dli, the latter part being a pleasant trill. 
“ When approached too closely, which not often happened, as he permitted 
me to come within two or three feet of his station, his song becomes harsh 
and more hurried, like tship, dci, dd, da, and de, de, de, de, d, d, dh, or tshe, 
de, de, de. de, rising into an angry petulant cry, which is also sometimes a 
low hoarse and scolding daigh, daigh. Then again on invading the nest, 
the sound sinks to a plaintive tsh, tship, tsh, tship. In the early part of 
the breeding season, the male is very lively and musical, and in his best 
humour he tunes up a tship, tship, tship, d dee, with a pleasantly warbled 
and reiterated de. At a later period, another male uttered little else than a 
