NEST BUILDING 273 



males seem glad for all the help offered them. The 

 real nest of an oriole, inside the covering purse of 

 plant fibre and string, contains as much fine ma- 

 terial, carefully placed, as the average bird struc- 

 ture. The weaving of the hammock necessary to 

 support it is all extra work. 



Male wrens are credited with being great workers 

 at nest building by writers of theory who lack 

 experience with the habits of the birds. As this 

 matter never has been rightly explained, it is time 

 someone told the truth about it. We often read 

 articles by writers, who tell about the patient, little 

 male wren carrying sticks and twigs for his nest. 

 There is not a stick nor a twig in the nest of a wren. 

 I have examined them by the dozens. Their nest 

 is a tiny cup, woven of hair and down, often arched 

 with chicken feathers. The truth is this: almost 

 every box placed for wrens is much too large for 

 their soft, tiny nest; so the male wren spends all 

 the time preceding the coming of his mate, tugging 

 at twigs so large he can not always get them into 

 the box, building a barricade between the entrance 

 and the very small space required for his nest. If 

 half a peck is needed, he carries that many, and if 

 the entrance is large enough to admit sparrows and 

 bluebirds, he partially fills it. So when in answer 

 to his persistent song he wins a mate, or his mate 

 returns, he can immediately show every wren box 

 on the premises ready for her work on the nest. In 

 the actual building of the nest, he helps no more 



