208 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ings and excelsior fairly under the smith's hands and feet, approach- 

 ing the nest over a horse that was being shod, and often keeping 

 her place upon it when the smith worked at the vise for welding 

 tires, * * * undaunted by the ringing blows or showers of sparks." 

 A brood of five young was raised in this nest. 



The Carolina wren is satisfied with almost any soft and pliable 

 material that is available with which to build its nest, such as grasses, 

 weed stalks, strips of inner bark, leaves, mosses, rootlets, and feathers; 

 many nests contain pieces of cast-ofT snakeskin, and some are partially 

 lined with this. The lining generally consists of fine grass, fine root- 

 lets, hair, feathers, and sometimes Spanish moss. George F. Simmons 

 ( 1925 ) adds the following materials, used in Texas nests : Small twigs, 

 corn husks, pieces of paper, string, thread, wool, rags, and leaf 

 skeletons. 



I am told that Herbert L. Stoddard has a record of a successful 

 nesting in a farm tractor that was in daily use. 



Eggs. — The Carolina wren lays four to six eggs to a set ; probably 

 five is the commonest number ; sets of eight have been recorded. These 

 are mostly ovate but often more rounded and sometimes somewhat 

 elongated. The ground color is usually pure white, but often pink- 

 ish white or creamy white. They are usually more heavily marked 

 with larger spots than other wrens' eggs, but not always, as some are 

 very sparingly and faintly marked with fine dots. The markings may 

 be evenly distributed, but generally tliey are irregularly scattered 

 and often concentrated in a ring about the larger end. The markings 

 are in several lighter and darker shades of reddish brown, and there 

 are sometimes underlying blotches in light shades of "Quaker drab" 

 or "lavender," producing a very pretty effect. 



The measurements of 60 eggs average 19.1 by 14.9 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 20.8 by 15.2, 19.8 by 15.8, and 

 16.8 by 14.2 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation is said to be 12 to 14 days, and 

 the young remain in the nest for about the same length of time. Evi- 

 dently the task of incubation is performed wholly by the female ; at 

 least I can find no evidence that the male ever incubates. But both 

 parents work together industriously to feed the young, in the nest and 

 for a time after they leave it. At least two broods are ordinarily 

 raised in a season and often three in the more southern localities. 

 Mcll wraith (1894) says that even in Ontario "the Carolina Wren is 

 a very prolific species, the female turning over to the male the care 

 of the first brood before they are able to shift for themselves, while 

 she proceeds to deposit a second set of eggs in another nest, which 

 the male has prepared for their reception. Family number two is 

 turned over to the male in due course, and in this way three broods 

 are raised during the season in a very short time." 



