A CLEVER WREN. 



WHEN a pair of House Wrens decide that they 

 want to build their nest in a certain place, it 

 takes a good deal to prevent them from doing so. 

 Sometimes several birds, who build in similar situa- 

 tions, all want one particular spot, — a knot hole in 

 a tree or a bird box. Bluebirds, White-bellied Swal- 

 lows, and House Wrens often struggle violently in 

 nesting time, and, as in other struggles, it is not 

 always the largest bird that wins. 



A gentleman once saw a pair of wrens outwit some 

 sv/allows in the following manner. There had been a 

 long struggle over a box, built on the house, with the 

 usual round hole for an entrance. The wrens had 

 pulled twigs into the box. The swallows had 

 promptly pulled them out. The scolding of the 

 wrens and the sharp twitter of the swallows were 

 heard all day about the box. 



One morning the wren was seen hauling along an 

 unusually stout twig, as thick as a lead pencil. It 

 was too heavy to carry straight to the box, but he 

 managed to get it into the lower branches of a pear 

 tree, and finally up to the box. Here he was met by 

 the she-bird, and together they pulled one end into 



