Home › Volumes › Bird Homes › Part I. — Open Nests in Marshes, Reeds, Saw-grass, and Low Bushes in Open Country
Short-billed Marsh Wren
Adult--Black and brown streaked with buff and white; under parts white or whitish tinged with buff. Length--4.00.
Breeding Range--The Eastern States from New Hampshire and Manitoba southward.
The nest, which is globular or spherical, with the entrance on the side, is made of coarse grasses or thin reeds, with the lining of plant down; it is attached to upright reeds in marshes. 5 to 7 eggs are laid; they are usually pure white, but are sometimes marked faintly with rather large spots of pale lavender. Size--.64x.45.
This energetic little wren, which builds such a remarkable nest, is found more often in the damp meadows than in the regular swamps where his cousin, the long-billed marsh wren, lives. The habit of building more nests than are ever used for laying eggs in, is one of the peculiarities of the marsh wrens. Where one nest is found there are sure to be others not far away, some finished and some scarcely more than begun. Whether these are for roosting in, or simply experiments, or as a method of protection, it is difficult to say. Two sets of eggs are usually laid; the first about the end of May, and the second in July.