Marsh Wren
(Natural size.) Nest, globular, the entrance on one side, of grasses, lined with plant down, on or near the ground, in a tussock of tall grass. Eggs, six to eight, pure white, rarely with a few lavender spots, 62 x 47.
This bustling, energetic little creature will much more often be heard than seen. Its ordinary call-note, like the sound of two pebbles struck together, may be heard in a dozen directions for a quarter of an hour before one of the birds comes in view, so careful are they to keep concealed among the protecting sedge. The ordinary song of THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. the species has much the same timbre as the call-note; it resembles the syllables chap- chap-chap-chap, chap chap-chap-chap-p-p-rrrr; but during the height of the love season it vents its feelings in a much more ambitious refrain, one which, while it is everywhere varied and in parts very musical, is still conspicuous for the amount of chappering that enters into its composition. While singing, it is usually seen clinging to the side of some tall swaying reed with its tail bent forward so far as almost to touch the head, thus exhibiting in an exaggerated manner a characteristic attitude of all the Wrens. This is less a species of the deep-water marshes than is the longbilled member of the genus, and often it will be found in places that are little more than damp meadows. It is remarkably mouselike in its habits and movements, and can be flushed only with extreme difficulty.