Part 51

Washington, rather common W.V., Aug. 10-May 1. Ossining, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 18-Apl. 27. Cambridge, T.V. uncommon, Sept. 20-Nov. 25; rare, Apl. 10-25; a very few winter. N. Ohio, tolerably common. W.V., Sept. 14-May 17. Glen Ellyn, fairly common T.V., Apl. 1-May 10; Sept. 9-Nov. 7. SE. Minn., common T.V., rare W.V., Sept. 22-Apl. 3.

The Winter Wren comes to us from the North when the House Wren leaves for the South and remains with us until the House Wren returns in the spring. But one by no means takes the place of the other. The Winter Wren is a wood Wren that lives in fallen tree-tops, old brush-piles or similar retreats, and his nervous chimp, chimp, as with cocked-up tail he hops into view for a second, is like the call of the Song Sparrow rather than the scolding note of most Wrens; nor does his rippling, trickling song resemble the House Wren's sudden outburst.

The nest is built in the roots of a tree or similar location. The 5-7 eggs, laid in early June, are white, finely, but rather sparingly speckled with brownish.

SHORT-BILLED MARSH WREN

Cistothorus stellaris. Case 8, Fig. 80

Smallest of our Wrens; the head and back streaked with white. L. 4.

Range. Nests from central Missouri and northern Delaware to Saskatchewan and southern Maine; winters from southern Illinois and southern New Jersey to the Gulf.

Washington, very rare T.V., two instances, May. Ossining, rare S.R., to Oct. 16. Cambridge, formerly locally common S.R., May 12-Sept. 25; now chiefly T.V. N. Ohio, rare, May 12, 14, 16 and 19. Glen Ellyn, fairly common S.R., May 8-Oct. 17. SE. Minn., common S.R., May 13-Sept. 19.

Although we have only six species of Wrens in the eastern United States, they are so unlike in their choice of haunts that few localities which will afford them the hiding places they all love are without one or more of them. The House and Bewick's Wrens make their homes near ours; the Carolina and Winter Wrens prefer the woods; the Long-billed Marsh Wren's haunts have given him his name, and if we should call the present species Meadow Wren, its home would be similarly indicated, for it lives in wet, grassy places rather than among the cat-tails.

Ernest Seton describes its note as resembling the sound produced by striking two pebbles together, while its song is a series of chaps, running into chap-r-r-rrr. The globular nest is built on the ground, and the 6-8 eggs, laid in May, are usually pure white.

LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN

Telmatodytes palustris palustris. Case 8, Fig. 79

Darker and larger than the Short-billed Marsh Wren, with a blackish brown crown and white stripe over the eye. L. 5-1/4.

Range. Nests from Virginia to Canada; winters from southern New Jersey to South Carolina. Worthington's Marsh Wren (T. p. griseus) is the form of the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida. Marian's Marsh Wren (T. p. marianæ) is found on the more southern Atlantic coast and on the Gulf coast of Florida; while the Prairie Marsh Wren (T. p. iliacus) nests in the Mississippi Valley east to Indiana north to Canada, and winters along the Gulf coast. Where two races may be expected to occur together (for example, in the South, during the winter) field identification of the various races may be left to experts and the average observer must be content with plain "Marsh Wren."

Washington, very numerous S.R., Apl. 15-Nov. 1. Ossining, common S.R., May 10-Oct. 28. Cambridge, locally abundant S.R., May 15-Oct. 1; sometimes a few winter. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 21-Sept. 20. Glen Ellyn, fairly common S.R., May 16-Oct. 10. SE. Minn., common S.R., May 5-Sept. 9.

As well look for pond lilies on a rocky hillside as a Marsh Wren outside a marsh. Give him cat-tails for cover and to support his bulky nest and he is at home. His scolding notes betray his ancestry and his reeling, rippling song, delivered both from a perch and on fluttering wings above the reeds, suggests in form, at least, that of the House Wren. The 5-9 eggs, laid in early June are uniform chocolate or thickly marked with brown.

CREEPERS. FAMILY CERTHIIDÆ

BROWN CREEPER

Certhia familiaris americana. Case 2, Fig. 59

Tail-feathers with stiffened points, bill slender and slightly carved. L. 5-3/4.

Range. Nests from northern New England and south along the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters south to Florida.

Washington, common W.V., Sept. 22-May 1. Ossining, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 20-May 7. Cambridge, common T.V., rather common W.V.. Sept. 25-May 1; one summer record N. Ohio, common W.V., Oct. 1-May 9. Glen Ellyn, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 15-May 19. SE. Minn., common T.V., uncommon W.V., Sept. 25-Mch. 30.

To see the Brown Creeper is to knew him but so inconspicuous is he that unless you chance to observe him drop from one to tree near the foot of another, you may overlook the little figure creeping spirally upward. Nor are his thin, weak, squeaky call-notes more likely to attract attention than he is himself. A true bird of the bark, he not only hunts upon it but builds his nest behind it, laying 5-8 white, brown-spotted eggs in May.

NUTHATCHES. FAMILY SITTIDÆ

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

Sitta carolinensis carolinensis. Case 2, Figs. 38, 39; Case 4, Fig. 65

Crown black, cheeks white; breast white; the female with a gray crown. L. 6.

Range. Nests from Gulf States to Canada; a Permanent Resident. The Florida White-breasted Nuthatch (S. c. atkinsi) a slightly smaller form in which the female as well as the male has the crown black, is the race inhabiting Florida, the Atlantic coast to South Carolina and the Gulf coast to Mississippi.