WINTER WREN
Nannus hiemalis hiemalis. [Case 2], Fig. 58
Smaller than the House Wren; underparts brownish, flanks and belly finely barred. L. 4.
Range. Nests from northern New England and Central Michigan north to Canada and, in the Alleghanies, south to North Carolina; winters from the Northern States to the Gulf.
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.