(_Cistothorus stellaris_) Wren family
_Length_--4 to 5 inches. Actually about one-third smaller than
the English sparrow, but apparently only half its size.
_Male and Female_--Brown above, faintly streaked with white, black,
and buff. Wings and tail barred with same. Underneath white, with
buff and rusty tinges on throat and breast. Short bill.
_Range_--North America, from Manitoba southward in winter to
Gulf of Mexico. Most common in north temperate latitudes.
_Migrations_--Early May. Late September.
Where red-winged blackbirds like to congregate in oozy pastures or
near boggy woods, the little short-billed wren may more often be heard
than seen, for he is more shy, if possible, than his long-billed
cousin, and will dive down into the sedges at your approach, very much
as a duck disappears under water. But if you see him at all, it is
usually while swaying to and fro as he clings to some tall stalk of
grass, keeping his balance by the nervous, jerky tail motions
characteristic of all the wrens, and singing with all his might.
Oftentimes his tail reaches backward almost to his head in a most
exaggerated wren-fashion.
Samuels explains the peculiar habit both the long-billed and the
short-billed marsh wrens have of building several nests in one season,
by the theory that they are made to protect the sitting female, for it
is noticed that the male bird always lures a visitor to an empty nest,
and if this does not satisfy his curiosity, to another one, to prove
conclusively that he has no family in prospect.
Wild rice is an ideal nesting place for a colony of these little marsh
wrens. The home is made of sedge grasses, softly lined with the softer
meadow grass or plant-down, and placed in a tussock of tall grass, or
even upon the ground. The entrance is on the side. But while fond of
moist places, both for a home and feeding ground, it will be noticed
that these wrens have no special fondness for running water, so dear
to their long-billed relatives. Another distinction is that the eggs
of this species, instead of being so densely speckled as to look
brown, are pure white.