THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



289 



OFF ON AN EARLY MORNING LAKE 1ROUT AND LANDLOCKED SALMON FISHING TRIP- 

 COOKING BREAKFAST. 



so as it forms but a normal part of an 

 all around community life out-of- 

 doors." 



Report of Corresponding Member No. 

 2144, AA. 



MISSION SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. 



There is so little to say on my own 

 special subject, entomology, that I 

 think I shall have to "branch out" and 

 relate an incident which came under 

 my observation last spring, even 

 though I risk being charged with na- 

 ture faking. A family of Pacific house 

 wrens occupied a basket which we 

 placed under the eaves of our shack 

 for their convenience. Though their 

 building, the enthusiastic songs of the 

 male, and the busy time of feeding the 

 brood in the nest were all interesting, 

 they were only the ordinary happen- 

 ings of wrendom. Suffice it to say that 

 three times we were obliged to get out 

 the rifle and shoot jays that had dis- 

 covered the nest and were bent upon 

 destroying the young birds. Each 

 time, as soon as a shot was fired and 

 a jay disposed of, the wrens ceased 

 their cries and went to work, apparent- 

 ly having a perfect faith that the gun 

 would not be turned on them. 



At last the day came when the 

 young wrens left the nest. We had had 

 wren neighbors before, so paid little 

 attention to the excited clamor outside 

 as it was a busy day with us. Toward 

 the middle of the afternoon, however, 

 the voices of the parent birds rose to 

 such a pitch that we began to wonder 

 if all were well with our little friends. 

 Then suddenly the male flew to the 

 porch where we were sitting, and cling- 

 ing to the screen, looked in with wide, 

 frightened eyes, and fairly shrieked 

 his distress at us. The appeal could 

 not be ignored. We left our work and 

 went to the rescue of the wren family. 



The basement of the shack is rough- 

 ly boarded up, and there are many 

 cracks so that the wrens could slip 

 in and out almost anywhere. We found 

 the little mother peering in through 

 a wide crack and scolding vociferously, 

 while her mate gave his opinion from 

 the doorway. As we approached he 

 fluttered in across the earthen floor, 

 still voicing his protests. The mother 

 now entered and fluttered about beneath 

 a hanging shelf, scolding all the while. 

 In a moment we saw the cause of all 

 the trouble. A snake had draped itself 

 over one of the braces close to the 



