146 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tiller on the inside, and lined with various kinds of animal fur and with 

 feathers. Both birds worked together in constructing tlieir nest, beginning 

 on tlie 11th of April, and on the 27th of the same month this contained 

 seven eggs. The nest was not covered at the toj), in the manner of tlie 

 Carolina Wren. In the following season anotlier pair commenced Iniilding 

 theu' nest in his bed, m a log-house. Driven from these impossible quarters, 

 they tried the same experiment in various other parts of the house, but only 

 to abandon it, and at last finished by making a successful attempt in the 

 hay-loft. Tlieir visits to that portion of Georgia, he informed me, were 

 irregular and only occasional. In 18.5!) he had not met with any birds of 

 this species for the sj)ace of five years. 



The eggs measure .07 by .50 of an inch in their average proportions, 

 resembling somewhat those of the Carolina Wren, but having a lighter 

 ground, witli fewer and liner markings of slate and reddish-brown. The 

 ground-color is of a ])inkish-white. 



Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of these bii'ds in the winter months, 

 in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, probably of the var. Icucogastcr. 



We leani from Mr. Kidgway that in Southern Illinois (as far ncn-th as lati- 

 tude 38° 20' 20") this Wren is very abundant, and tlie most familiar species 

 of the family. In certain localities (as in the Valley of the Wabash) it 

 entirely replaces the Troglochjtes wdon, the latter being wholly unknown. In 

 its hal)its it is even more familiar than that species, always preferring 

 the out-buildings, even in large towns, to the neighborhood of the woods, 

 and still further increases its attractions by ijossessing a charming song, 

 a real aony, of sweet notes finely modulated, and uttered, generally, as 

 tiie l)ir(l ]ierches njion a fence or the stable roof, its head thrown Ijack, 

 and its long tail ]i('iident as it sings. The confused, gabbling sjiutter of 

 T. cvdon, uttered as it ])auses ju.st for an instant in its restless hojijnng 

 through the ivy, cannot be comjxired to the chant of licpiid musical notes 

 of this species, wdiich resembles more nearly, lioiii in modulation and power, 

 that of the Song Sparrow {Meloupka melodia), though far superior to it. 

 On ordinary occasions the note of Bewick's Wren is a soft, low jjUt, uttered 

 as the bird hops about the fence or stable, its long tail carried upright, and 

 jerked to one side at each hop. In its movements it is altogetiier more 

 deliberate and less restless than the T. liulovicianvAi, or Tmjlodi/tc^ crdon, 

 neither of which it much resembles in motion, and still less in notes. The 

 nest of this Wren is usually built about the out-houses, a mortise-hole or 

 some well-concealed corner being generally selected. Old stables and asii- 

 hoppers are especially iiequented as nesting-places. Mr. Eidgway found one 

 in the bottom of the conical portion of a quail-nrt wliich was liung up in a 

 shed, and another in a piece of .stove-pi]ie whicli lay liorizontally in the gar- 

 ret of a smoke-house; another rested u]»ou a flat Itoaid over tlie door of an 

 out-house, while a fourth was placed behind tlie weather-boarding of a build- 

 ing. The nest is generally very bulky, tlioiigli tlie bulk is regulated to suit 



