224 BIRDS 



period either the male or the female is singing every 

 minute. All this time the male becomes almost a nui- 

 sance, as he begins his song near your bedroom window at 

 four A. M., and keeps it up every few minutes for the next 

 sixteen hours. There is nothing private about the prem- 

 ises of these birds. In fact, they seem to delight in tell- 

 ing you where they live and they extend to you an audible 

 invitation to come to visit with them. 



What an inquisitive little bundle of nerve the female 

 is! She must cease her household duties every little 

 while and run to her front door to see who is passing 

 her way, or, perchance, to cast a glance at her better-half, 

 perched on a nearby limb, calling to her every few min- 

 utes that he is close at hand and that all is well. 



As usual last spring my male Wren made his appear- 

 ance in my backyard ten days or two weeks before the 

 female. As soon as he landed, he got very busy building 

 a nest. Not satisfied with the old last year's home site, 

 he proceeded, as the male frequently does, to construct 

 a nest in every available likely spot on the premises. 

 A hole under the porch eave, the last year's box and a 

 new box were all looked over in turn and pre-empted as 

 nest-building places. 



It is surprising, the size and length of sticks, wire 

 and other coarse building material that these little birds 

 carry into the boxes through a hole the size of a twenty- 

 five cent piece ! On arriving at the entrance with a long 

 stick grasped at the middle and finding it impossible 

 to carry it into the box in that position, the bird keeps 

 moving its bill-grasp along the twig until, turned side- 

 wise, the end of the stick enters the hole, to be followed 

 by the builder. During the nest-building labors of the 

 male I never saw him carry a single feather, string or 

 other downy material, such as is later used by the female 

 in completing the nest. 



With three home sites pre-empted, Mr. Wren was 

 very busy during the days of his bachelorhood. Then, 

 one bright warm morning, the graceful little female ar- 

 rived. He was all bubbling over with love songs and 

 ardent wooing as, with great pride and much enthusiasm 

 he escorted Jenny from nest to nest, always remaining 

 on the threshold while she entered and inspected his 

 proffered homes. I was sure it was a case of love at 



