62 Our Bird Fr/f.nds. 



domed roof comes so far down that it is impossible 

 for a stray splash to find its way on to the eggs or 

 the young. Sometimes it is built right away behind 

 a cascade through the ialling waters of which the 

 bird is obliged to Hy on leaving and entering her 

 nest. I once saw one driven right down into the 

 foaming cauldron by the force of the flood when 

 leaving her nest, but she very ([iiickly gained wing 

 and flew awav none the worse for her experience. 



The Connnon Wren is a wonderfully a(lai)tive 

 bird. When making its nest in the side of a hay- 

 rick it invariably uses straws for the front of its 

 home, and, when making it in a wimkI, it uses 

 dead leaves, which look so very like an accidental 

 collection dropped between the sprouting twigs, 

 where some bough has been lopped off, and ihe 

 li-inik, that I have on several occasions passed 

 one bv. If built amongst ferns on a bank it is 

 generally made of dead fronds, and under a 

 mossy, overhanging bardv it is made of moss. I 

 used to think that the bird really employed its 

 materials with the tixed intention of deceiving its 

 enemies, but one day I found a nest in the side of 

 a haystack and the whole of its front was made of 

 moss and dead leaves picked out of a ditcli directly 

 beneath. Since that I have watched members of 

 the species at work, and have been surprised at the 

 very short distance they travelled for their materials, 

 a fact which has driven me to the conclusion that 

 they use whatever comes handiest, as a rule. 



