THE HOUSE WREN 



nest in a great variety of places, such as boxes, empty 

 jars, small pails, or gourds, if placed conveniently, or 

 in wren-houses. 



Wrens are valiant defenders of their nests, but have 

 been driven away from favorite nesting-places by quarrel- 

 some English sparrows; consequently wrens are decreasing 

 in number. Wren-houses with openings about an inch in 

 diameter, too small for sparrows to enter, may help 

 somewhat to check the decrease of these valuable insect- 

 eating birds. 



They are noisy little neighbors, a curious combina- 

 tion of joyousness and irritability. A pair of wrens that 

 built a nest on the piazza of my brother's home spent so 

 much time in scolding and quarreling that they were al- 

 most unendurable. One morning they disappeared; a 

 few hours later my brother found the drowned body of 

 the female in a rain-barrel. Whether it was accident, 

 murder, or suicide, no one knew, but within twenty-four 

 hours a pleasanter-tempered Lady Wren appeared, swept 

 and garnished the home of her predecessor, and set up 

 house-keeping. A larger measure of peace reigned there- 

 after. 



As songsters, wrens are very remarkable for volume of 

 sound, for sweetness of tone, and for extreme ecstasy. I 

 remember wakening about sunrise one morning in early 

 June, when the spring chorus was at its climax. For 

 about an hour, I had the joy of listening to a bird-con- 

 cert more wonderful than any I had ever heard. After a 

 time I distinguished the voices of the various familiar 

 birds. Loudest, clearest, and sweetest of all rang the voice 

 of the smallest member of the choir — that of the tiny 

 house wren. 



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