In the spring of 1833, Thomas Nuttall (see Plate 174) wrote to John James Audubon about a bird nesting “directly on the surface of the sedgy tussock” near the Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As opposed to the Marsh wren, Nuttall added, “This amusing and not unmusical little species inhabits the lowest marshy meadows, but does not frequent the reed flats. It never visits cultivated grounds, and is at all times shy, timid, and suspicious.”
For the first edition of Birds of America, Audubon named the bird that Nuttall found and described as Nuttall’s lesser-marsh wren. By the time Audubon completed the octavo edition of Birds of America, it was determined that Nuttall’s lesser-marsh wren had already been named for science. Audubon then changed the common name of the bird to a Short-billed marsh wren. The bird is currently known as the Sedge wren. Around Fresh Pond, Nuttall counted the bird as “more than usually abundant.” Nowhere today in Massachusetts could the Sedge wren be considered as more than usually abundant. The most that have been counted in the state according to Cornell’s e-Bird system is nine. The count was recorded by the Bird Observer from a sighting that was submitted on June 11, 2007 (see eBird Checklist S17196551).