What Bird is That? Part 35

_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.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 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.

Although we have only six species of Wrens in the eastern United States, they are so unlike in their choice of haunts that few localities which will afford them the hiding places they all love are without one or more of them. The House and Bewick's Wrens make their homes near ours; the Carolina and Winter Wrens prefer the woods; the Long-billed Marsh Wren's haunts have given him his name, and if we should call the present species Meadow Wren, its home would be similarly indicated, for it lives in wet, gra.s.sy places rather than among the cat-tails.

Ernest Seton describes its note as resembling the sound produced by striking two pebbles together, while its song is a series of _chaps_, running into _chap-r-r-rrr_. The globular nest is built on the ground, and the 6-8 eggs, laid in May, are usually pure white.

LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN

_Telmatodytes pal.u.s.tris pal.u.s.tris. Case 8, Fig. 79_

Darker and larger than the Short-billed Marsh Wren, with a blackish brown crown and white stripe over the eye. L. 5.

_Range._ Nests from Virginia to Canada; winters from southern New Jersey to South Carolina.

Worthington's Marsh Wren (_T. p. griseus_) is the form of the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida. Marian's Marsh Wren (_T. p. marianae_) is found on the more southern Atlantic coast and on the Gulf coast of Florida; while the Prairie Marsh Wren (_T. p. iliacus_) nests in the Mississippi Valley east to Indiana north to Canada, and winters along the Gulf coast. Where two races may be expected to occur together (for example, in the South, during the winter) field identification of the various races may be left to experts and the average observer must be content with plain "Marsh Wren."

Was.h.i.+ngton, very numerous S.R., Apl. 15-Nov. 1.

Ossining, common S.R., May 10-Oct. 28. Cambridge, locally abundant S.R., May 15-Oct. 1; sometimes a few winter. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 21-Sept.

20. Glen Ellyn, fairly common S.R., May 16-Oct.

10. SE. Minn., common S.R., May 5-Sept. 9.

As well look for pond lilies on a rocky hillside as a Marsh Wren outside a marsh. Give him cat-tails for cover and to support his bulky nest and he is at home. His scolding notes betray his ancestry and his reeling, rippling song, delivered both from a perch and on fluttering wings above the reeds, suggests in form, at least, that of the House Wren. The 5-9 eggs, laid in early June are uniform chocolate or thickly marked with brown.

CREEPERS. FAMILY CERTHIIDae

BROWN CREEPER

_Certhia familiaris americana. Case 2, Fig. 59_

Tail-feathers with stiffened points, bill slender and slightly carved. L. 5.

_Range._ Nests from northern New England and south along the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters south to Florida.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common W.V., Sept. 22-May 1. Ossining, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 20-May 7. Cambridge, common T.V., rather common W.V.. Sept. 25-May 1; one summer record N. Ohio, common W.V., Oct. 1-May 9. Glen Ellyn, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 15-May 19. SE. Minn., common T.V., uncommon W.V., Sept.

25-Mch. 30.

To see the Brown Creeper is to knew him but so inconspicuous is he that unless you chance to observe him drop from one to tree near the foot of another, you may overlook the little figure creeping spirally upward.

Nor are his thin, weak, squeaky call-notes more likely to attract attention than he is himself. A true bird of the bark, he not only hunts upon it but builds his nest behind it, laying 5-8 white, brown-spotted eggs in May.

NUTHATCHES. FAMILY SITTIDae

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

_Sitta carolinensis carolinensis. Case 2, Figs. 38, 39; Case 4, Fig. 65_

Crown black, cheeks white; breast white; the female with a gray crown. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests from Gulf States to Canada; a Permanent Resident. The Florida White-breasted Nuthatch (_S. c. atkinsi_) a slightly smaller form in which the female as well as the male has the crown black, is the race inhabiting Florida, the Atlantic coast to South Carolina and the Gulf coast to Mississippi.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common T.V. and W.V., less common S.R.

Ossining, common P.R. Cambridge, P.R., rare in summer, uncommon in winter, common in migrations; most numerous in Oct. and Nov. N. Ohio, common P.R. Glen Ellyn, fairly common P.R. SE. Minn., common P.R.

During the summer we will see comparatively little of this bird who, with equal ease, climbs either down or up a tree trunk, but in the winter he will be a constant patron of the nuts and suet on our lunch counters. Habit, markings, his unmistakable _yank-yank_, all distinguish him from our other birds, except his Canadian cousin to which, after all, he bears only a family resemblance.

In April, 5-7 white, brown speckled eggs are laid in a hole in a tree, lined with feathers, etc.

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH

_Sitta canadensis. Case 2, Figs. 60, 61_

Underparts brownish, a line through the eye, black in the male, slate in the female. Smaller than the White-breasted Nuthatch. L. 4.

_Range._ Nests from northern New England and northern Minnesota into Canada; south along the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters from southern Canada to the Gulf States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, irregularly abundant W.V., sometimes rare, Sept. 15-May 10. Ossining, irregular W.V., Aug. 8-May 8. Cambridge, irregular T.V., and W.V., Aug. 15-Nov. 25; Nov. 25-Apl. 15. N. Ohio, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 4-May 22. Glen Ellyn, irregular T.V., Apl. 24-May 21; Aug. 19-Dec. 12.

SE. Minn., common T.V., uncommon W.V., Sept.

24-Apl. 21.

Late in August when I hear a note such as one might imagine a baby Nuthatch would utter, I know that the Red-breasted Nuthatch has arrived from the north perhaps to spend the winter, or, may be, to go farther south. He never seems quite as familiar as his larger, louder-voiced, white-breasted cousin, and if one wants to make his acquaintance it is well to follow the sound of his penny-trumpet-like notes until their author is discovered.

BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH

_Sitta pusilla. Case 4, Fig. 66_

The head is browner than in the figure; the nape has a downy white patch. Smallest of our Nuthatches. L. 4.

_Range._ Nests from Florida to southern Delaware and southern Missouri; a Permanent Resident.

The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a bird of southern pine forests; one may travel for miles without seeing a single individual and then discover a company of a score or more. They pa.s.s most of their time among the upper branches uttering a _pit-pit_ as they hunt for food, or all suddenly joining in a metallic _tnee-tnee-tnee_, when they are apt to take flight to the adjoining trees. The nest is in a hole in a tree or stump, generally near the ground; 5-6 white, heavily marked eggs being laid in March.