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Breeding Range. (Fig. 122). Locally common in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region, on the Northeastern Drift Plain, and in the Turtle Mountains; fairly common locally on the Southern and Northwestern Drift Plains and on the Missouri Coteau; uncommon and local on the Coteau Slope; rare and probably irregular elsewhere--recorded in summer near Watford City in McKenzie County, and 8 miles east-northeast of Hebron in Morton County.

Breeding Habitat. Fens appear to represent the optimum breeding habitats, particularly those that are dominated by such species as fowl mannagrass, northern reedgrass, tufted hairgrass, water sedge, beaked sedge, and narrowleaf cottongrass. These habitats also contained shrub willows and numerous fortes including marsh-marigold, swamp buttercup, common waterhemlock, swamp milkweed, clustered sunflower, and narrowleaf goldenrod.

Stands of river bulrush in semipermanent ponds and lakes also were found to be favored habitats, and occasional pairs inhabited shallow-marsh emergent associations including whitetop and slough sedge. Locally, considerable numbers occured on retired cropland fields, particularly those with established plant growth composed of mixtures of sweetclover, alfalfa, wheatgrasses, and brome grasses. A few pairs were recorded in alfalfa hayfields. In addition, on the Southern Drift Plain in Stutsman County in 1968, a high-density breeding population was found utilizing an unusually luxuriant stand of Kentucky bluegrass that had developed on a newly plowed tract of native prairie.

Nesting. Breeding season: Early June to late August; peak, mid-June to early August. Extreme egg dates (4 nests): June 7 [1970] in Kidder County (P. F. Springer) to August 10 [1974] in Dickey County (G. L. Krapu). The latter nest contained one egg and two newly hatched young. Three nests were situated in dense, moist clumps of fine grass or sedge, and one nest was situated in a wheat field. Dependent young out of the nest were seen on August 3 [1963] in Benson County (V. Erickson).

Indicated clutch size (3 nests): Two nests with 7 eggs, each, and one nest with 6 eggs; mean, 6.7 eggs.

Figure 122. Breeding Range of Short-billed Marsh Wren.