NESTING EPISODES NEAR HOME 107 



most artistic, in connection with their curious globular 

 nests suspended among the tall green stems. 



Learning from a friend of a marsh where there 

 were plenty of them, on June 14, after quite a trolley 

 ride, I alighted at the edge of the marsh, and soon 

 was wading in the rushes along the course of the 

 brook. On all sides arose the wren-songs, and very 

 quickly I was finding nests, for they are easy to see 

 when one penetrates to where they are. These birds 

 have the curious habit of building dummy nests, seem- 

 ingly to deceive intruders as to the location of the 

 real one. So now, about one out of every half-dozen 

 of the nests examined had eggs, nearly all with in- 

 complete sets, for the bird is a late nester and waits 

 for the reeds to grow tall. The eggs are of a dark 

 mahogany-brown color, but are out of sight, for the 

 nest is entirely arched over, and the eggs are laid 

 inside. Sometimes the birds sang or scolded within 

 arm's reach of me, but I noticed that when I was by 

 a real nest they kept entirely away. When the sets 

 are completed, I thought, they will act differently, 

 especially when they have young. 



Detained by other work, it was July 5 before I 

 went there again, to meet with disappointment. 

 Some nests had been robbed, others the young had 

 recently left. An all-day's search revealed two nests 

 with five eggs, second sets, only one of these being 

 accessible to photograph. The next, and third, trip 

 was July 14. The eggs were not yet hatched; I set 

 the camera, with rushes arched over it, and hid at a 



