The eggs are rounded-oval in contour, obtuse, and pretty nearly equal at both extremities. They are brownish-olive on the ground, in most cases, although some specimens show a decided olive-drab color. A few darker olive-brown spots, however, relieve the monotony of the background. The average size is about 1.16 inches in length, and .85 in width. We have seen some that varied from 1.04 to 1.21 in length, and in breadth from .81 to .89 of an inch.
[Original Size]
Plate XLIV.—TELMATODYTES PALUSTRIS, (Wils.) Baird.—Long-billed Marsh Wren.
The above species is restricted to Eastern North America. It ranges from the Atlantic westward to the Missouri, and from Massachusetts to Florida. On our western shores, and in the Middle Provinces of the United States, a closely-allied form takes its place. In Maine and New Hampshire it is notably absent, but in Massachusetts and Vermont and thence southward through New England, where suitable localities exist, it is more or less common. Austin F. Park, of Troy, N. Y., gives it a common breeder in that locality, and the same may be affirmed, on the authority of Rathbun, to be the case in the central portions of the State. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware we have found it most abundant during the nesting season. Throughout the Southern States some remain to breed, but the greater number go northward for this purpose. Ridgway states it to be an occasional resident, at least, in the southern counties of Illinois, but farther north a summer sojourner. In the vicinity of Cincinnati, according to Langdon, it seems to be merely a vernal migrant, but possibly spends its summer in the northern counties of Ohio, or in Michigan and Wisconsin. It cannot be denied admission to Minnesota, as is clearly proved by ornithologists from that section. Its occurrences have been noted in Kansas and Colorado by various parties, but it is likely that such references may be set down to the Tule Wren.
The Long-bill spends the winter on our southern border and southward, and only takes up its migratory course when the weather has settled into the blandishments of spring. The grand movement commences about the first week of April, and it is not long before the birds have spread themselves over the country. They reach the Potomac about the middle of the month, Pennsylvania towards the close, and New England about the first of May. When the season is forward, individuals are often met with in the latitude of Philadelphia and Central New York early in April.
Upon its arrival it seeks inland swamps, or the brackish marshes of the seashore, where, amid the splatterdocks of the former, and reeds of the latter, it finds suitable shelter. Here day in and day out, during their entire stay, these birds pursue the even tenor of their lives, happy and contented, never caring, like many of their remoter kin, for the charmed circle of man. Active, energetic and buoyant with life and hope, they skip about the tall, rank vegetation, in every conceivable direction, in quest of insects. Their food consists of grasshoppers, small aquatic grubs, and such like, which they capture with considerable dexterity. If you should be unconsciously led to the favorite haunts of the species, you at once become aware of its presence by the lively, chattering song which emanates from within, and, ere long, you are repaid, if you take any special pains to insinuate yourself within the reeds, by a sight of the quaint, little creature, as he dodges, like some grotesque apparition, in and out among the interlacing grasses. This song, which has been compared by Wilson to a low crackling sound, somewhat analogous to air bubbles forcing their way through boggy ground, and by Audubon, to the grating noise of a rusty hinge, is most difficult of expression. It resembles more nearly the sounds of an insect than those of a bird, and is a low, harsh cry, lacking both harmony and force of expression.
As these birds reach their breeding-grounds early in May, and instantly repair to nest-building, it is safe to assume that mating had been celebrated in their far-off southern homes, or is a matter that is entered into with but little show or affectation. Frequent visits to their haunts, at such times when one would expect to gain information on this point, have always been rewarded by seeing the busy creatures at work upon their nest. Their early movements are so secret and mysterious, that we hardly know anything of their presence except when they are colonized for the summer.