54 



CAROLIXA WREN. 



are quiet, even occasionally in winter. In the great 

 blizzard of 1895, when the storm was at its height, 

 Mr. Ridgway heard the loud, ringing voice of a Caro- 

 lina Wren. 



His common song is a whistling whee-o-Ue, three 

 or four times repeated, the accent either on the first 

 or last syllable. Sometimes only two notes are heard, 

 whee-o, when it sounds like a Cardinal's call. He also 

 occasionally gives a varied performance resembling a 

 Mockingbird's, from which he is named Mocking 

 Wren. He lives in woods bordering streams, and 

 is abundant all along Rock Creek and the Potomac. 



While one may usually hear the Carolina, finding 

 him is quite another matter. He seems to delight in 

 playing hide-and-seek with the observer, keeping 

 warily to the opposite side of a tree or stump, and 

 flying entirely away if too closely pursued. Lock 

 for him in wild, secluded places; on fallen trees, about 

 old logs and stumps, and under turf which overhangs 

 small streams. When you catch sight of him you 

 will be astonished that so great a voice can belong to 

 so small a bird, for he is but little larger than the 

 House Wren and much resembles him, his distin- 

 guishing marks being the white Une over the eye, the 

 more rusty back, and bufify under parts. The nest is 

 usually in a hole in a stump or log, and is built of 

 grasses, moss, feathers and hair.. The eggs, 6 to 7, 

 are white, with lavender markings. 



