Notes from Field and Study 



165 



\\v found Uk' Rcd-lK'llic.l W .uxlpcc krr 

 \ir\ (It-slruclive to our oranges, boring 

 holes in both green and ripe fruit; but the 

 most remari<able thing of all was the 

 tameness of what to us had hitherto i)een 

 the shyest of ail birds, viz, the Hermit 

 Thrush. Here he was so tame that he 

 would hardly get from under our feet, 

 while we had hitherto known him only in 

 his Adirondack home, where he could 

 seldom be heard and more rarely seen. — 

 Wm. M. Stii.lmax. /'Idiiitirld, \. J. 



Wrens in Our Garden 



Several years ago, we hung a gourd in 

 our syringa bush. The door was just the 

 the size of a silver dollar, to let in Wrens and 

 keep out English Sparrows. 



The first spring it was left empty. The 

 second, when blackened by winter and 

 coal soot, a pair of Bewick's Wrens took 

 possession, and raised two broods that 

 summer. 



The man of the house says that Be- 

 wick's Wren has the spring-iest song he 

 knows. 



While feeding their young, the old birds 

 seemed very tame, and went back and 

 forth to the nest when we were sitting 

 onh- three or four feet away. They rarely 

 flew directh- to the nest, but lit on a tall 

 branch above, and then climbed down as 

 if going down a ladder. There were seven 

 in the second brood. 



We were so pleased with this success 

 that, in the fall, three more gourds were 

 hung. But alas for our hopes! When 

 spring came again, Mrs. Wren came back 

 to her old apartments, threw out the old 

 nest, played around for a few days, then 

 left for parts unknown. 



Some House Wrens moved in and stayed 

 a few days, but they too left; so we thought 

 we should have no Wrens this year. 



Two of the gourds were hung in vines 

 on the house. July 5, a pair of House 

 Wrens moved into one of these, and for a 

 day or tw-o seemed about to build a nest. 

 After that we could not be sure whether 

 Mrs. Wren was there or not. The nest 

 was too high, but we heard singing 



ed 



I'"inall\-. early one morning, the old ones 

 were seen feeding the l)ro()(l. After that 

 they kei)t things lively in the garden. It 

 was amusing to see the old birds come to 

 the nest. They never flew straight to it, 

 but usually hopped along the garden walk 

 to the fence jiost, and climbed up the post, 

 flying from the top to a perch abo\e it, 

 then to the edge of the nest. They nc\er 

 once missed lighting on the edge of the 

 hole until the little ones got big enough to 

 l)oke their heads out in the way; then a 

 perch was put up for them to rest on 

 while feeding. Both birds were in sight 

 when the perch was put up, but they did 

 not seem to mind, and flew right upon it as 

 if it had always been there. 



In ten days the little brood was gone, 

 and we e.\pected to see no more of the 

 Wrens. During the hot weather we had 

 our supper in the garden. One evening, 

 as we sat at supper, a House Wren came 

 over the fence, scolding noisily. To our 

 great surprise, he flew right into a gourd 

 in the syringa bush, one never used for a 

 nest. Since then we have frequently seen 

 him go to roost there, between si.\ o'clock 

 and half-past, and do not doubt that he 

 goes every night. Once he brought another 

 Wren; hopped into the gourd, hopped out 

 again, all the time chirping in a soft per- 

 suasive note new to us. But no, she woidd 

 not go in, and he flew off with her. 



Once he went in without any noise, but 

 usually he chirps loudly, as if he said: 

 "Look at me! I'm going to bed!" 



Now we are wondering how many gourds 

 will have nests this spring, — Lizzie .\. 

 Lyle, Lrxiiiiilon, Ky. 



Winter Robins in Wisconsin 



January, in Wisconsin, broke all records 

 for cold, and the winter as a whole has been 

 equaled or exceeded by only five winters 

 in the forty-two j'ears that the weather 

 records have been kept, .\gainst this 

 chilly background it is interesting to 

 place the RoI)in record of the winter. 

 Robins were reported from over thirty 



