EASTERN HOUSE WREN 119 



birds. At Loring, Va., a pair of wrens built in a deserted barn swal- 

 low's nest. At Laanna, Pike County, Pa., Burleigh (1927) writes of 

 a nest containing seven eggs which was in a robin's nest on a ledge above 

 a pillar of a porch. Here the cavity had been deepened and a few 

 twigs and feathers added, but these were not noticeable a short distance 

 away. He found another nest in a barn swallow's nest lodged against 

 a beam in the roof of a barn. Here again the cavity had been deep- 

 ened and a few twigs and feathers added. Both nests were new and 

 apparently had been appropriated from the rightful owners. Angus 

 (1934) reports finding five young wrens in a phoebe's nest under a 

 bridge, and in this case no nesting material had been added by the 

 wrens. Wilbur F. Smith (1911a) relates a strange partnership in 

 which wrens and English sparrows built a nest in a bird house, the 

 sparrows starting first. Both the sparrow and wren layed eggs that 

 were incubated by the English sparrow. Though wrens are ordinarily 

 antagonistic toward bluebirds and tree swallows, they have been known 

 to occupy different compartments of the same martin house and exist 

 in apparent harmony. 



Not only do wrens occupy nests of other birds built in boxes or nat- 

 ural cavities or those in the protection of buildings but also they have 

 appropriated nests built in open situations. Schwab (1899) writes of 

 a pair of wrens that occupied the deserted nest of a Baltimore oriole 

 hung 20 feet from the ground in one of the outermost branches of a 

 large sugar-maple tree. Two other cases of wrens occupying oriole 

 nests have come to my attention ; hence the above case is not imique. 

 At Bay of Erie, Pa., a pair of wrens departed greatly from their nesting 

 enviroimient when they selected a kingfisher's nesting hole in a sand 

 bank. This nest contained young when discovered (Semiett, 1889). 

 Still another unusual nesting site in relation to other birds was that of 

 a pair of wrens which built in the deeper interstices of an osprey's nest 

 located on Plum Island, N. Y. (C. S. Allen, 1892) . 



Other interesting nesting sites of the house wren have been in a 

 fish creel or watering pot hung on the side of a shed or fence, rusty 

 tin cans in garbage piles, old threshing machines and other fann 

 machinery, in tin cans, teapots, and flowerpots left on shelves of 

 sheds, in a soap dish, in old boots and shoes, and even in a bag of 

 feathers. Outdoors they have been known to nest in the nozzle or 

 main part of pumps, in the hat or pockets of a scarecrow, in an iron 

 pipe railing, in a weathervane, in holes in a brick wall or building, and- 

 in a coat hung up at a camp site. One pair of wrens built their nest 

 on the rear axle of an automobile which was used daily. When the 

 car was driven the wrens went along. Even under these most un- 

 usual circumstances the eggs were successfully hatched (Northcutt, 

 1937). 



The individual wrens have one trait in common in that these ener- 



