BIRDS OF THE HOMESTEAD 51 



able, therefore, that the male may build a shelter 

 for himself when the hen is sitting. 



Nor is the habit altogether peculiar to the 

 Wren.^ A pair of House-sparrows once built a nest 

 in a cork-covered flower-box beneath my window. 

 In a tree, a few yards away, a second nest was built. 

 Day by day I saw the cock bird enter it, but never 

 the hen. Yet the cock would constantly flit across 

 to the box where the hen was sitting, and, later, he 

 assisted in rearing the brood. 



Like the Redbreast — its traditional mate — the 

 Wren has been the subject, and often the victim, of 

 many ancient superstitions. The custom, with 

 curious formalities attached, of " Hunting the 

 Wren " upon New Year's Day, which is still ob- 

 served in certain places, is, says Mr. G. W. Mur- 

 doch, of purelv Totemistic origin, and carries the 

 mind back far beyond the pagan rites and the cere- 

 monial of Druidism. 



Two species of Wren are believed, by some 

 writers, to be found in Great Britain. In St. Kilda, 

 a form occurs somewhat larger and darker than the 

 commonly known bird, and to this the distinctive 

 name, St. Kilda Wren, has been applied. That 

 the differences, however, of size and plumage 

 amount to more than a mere modification of the 

 familiar type, is, to say the least, very doubtful. 

 Dresser, the joint-author of the great work, Birds 

 of Etirope, has stated that the supposed points of 

 difference are all to be found in specimens from 



^ The Waterhen also often builds an additional nest in close 

 proximity to the one finally occupied. 



