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Must Wrens Be Taught Nest-Building? 



By CRAIG S. THOMS, Vermilion, S. D. 



II'^ male Wren speedily discoNered the Wren-house that I [)kiced on 

 toi) of a slender seven-foot stump for him, and for a week he had been 

 bubbling over with song, in perfect confidence that a little lady in 

 brown would soon come to share his joys. He did not know that I made the 

 Wren-house face my study-window so that I could observe his every movement, 

 and discoxer in 

 his mate, if pos- P^ 

 sible, any lack of 

 efficiency in the 

 management o f 

 household affairs, 

 —but I did. 



When he got 

 out of breath sing- 

 ing, which sel- 

 dom occurred, he 

 would carry a 

 twig into t h e 

 house just to rest 

 himself. And in 

 this twig - carry- 

 ing business he 

 was a past mas- 

 ter. Up he would 

 come with a large 

 twig, balancing 

 it squarely in 

 the middle ; but 

 the moment he 

 reached the little 

 round door, he 

 deftly slipped his 



bill to one end, inserted that end in the hole, and crowded himself in with it. 

 In the coming of the little lady in brown, his expectation was soon realized; 

 but she was evidently a bird of the first year, without experience, either in 

 match-making or nest-building. In regard to the former, she was unusually 

 shy, doubtful, and hesitant. In regard to the latter, when things were finally 

 settled between the two, and nest-building began in earnest, her inexperience 

 was apparent. She had all the courage and enthusiasm characteristic of a 

 first home-builder, as was shown by the large twigs which she unhesitatingly 



(i8i) 



•■SOMETIMES SHE WOULD I-IM) HERSELF ON THE WRONG 

 SIDE OF THE TWIG" 



