THE CAROLINA WREN 



a bulky structure in a tangle of twigs and vines. Unlike 

 the house wren it does not ordinarily use the structures of 

 man for nesting sites. 



"It is one of the few American birds that sing through- 

 out the year. Most birds sing, or try to, in the mating 

 season, but the Carolina wren may be heard pouring forth 

 his melody of song every month. The writer's first in- 

 troduction to this bird was in the month of January when 

 he heard gushing from a thicket a song which reminded 

 him of June instead of midwinter. 



"This wren keeps up the reputation of the family as 

 an insect-eater, as over nine-tenths of its diet consists 

 of insects and their allies." Stomach analysis shows that 

 the vegetable food of the Carolina wren is largely seeds of 

 trees and shrubs and some wild berries. He concludes: 

 "From this analysis of the food of the Carolina wren, it is 

 evident that the farmer and fruit-grower have not the slight- 

 est cause for complaint against the bird. It eats neither 

 cultivated fruit nor grain, and does not even nest in an or- 

 chard tree; but it does feed on numerous injurious insects 

 and enlivens the tangled thickets with its cheerful songs 

 for twelve months of the year." ^ 



Dr. Witmer Stone writes of the song of the Carolina wren 

 as follows: "His most characteristic song has been lik- 

 ened by Mr, Chapman to tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, 

 and to whee-udle, whee-udle, whee-udle. Wilson wrote it 

 sweet-william, sweet-william, sweet-william; and to Audu- 

 bon it seemed to say come-to-me, come-to-me, come-to-me. 

 It has variations recalling forms in the Cardinal's song, 

 and also that of the Tufted Titmouse; and the Wren after 



2 Farmers' Bulletin 755, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Biological Survey. 



[61] 



