170 



THE OOLOGISl 



in one of the old Heron's nests in the 

 heronry before mentioned. 

 • Well, so much for Bubo virginianus 

 in his different phrases. When I again 

 take up my pen to treat the readers of 

 the OoLOGisT to some bird lore I will 

 tell them something about the Loon. 

 C. P. Forge, 

 Carman, Manitoba. 



The Food Supply of the House Wren. 



BY C. C PURDUM, M. D. 



One of the birds I most love is our 

 quick motioned and cheerful little 

 House Wren [Troglodytes aedon.) I 

 meet him everywhere in the United 

 States where I may pitch my tent, ex- 

 cept in the mountains. In the winter, 

 if I chance to be in the wooris in 

 Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, or in 

 fact any of the Southern states, ho is 

 there to greet me. If in the summer, 

 when the heat becomes oppressive, I 

 invade the cool and delicious solitudes 

 of the forests of Maine, I find him 

 always cheerful, always chirping hap- 

 pily to his mate on her eggs in the nest 

 in the fence post, and always glad and 

 happy to be in the society of man. 

 Like our friend O. caroUnensis, the 

 House Wren rears two broods each 

 season, depositing six to eight reddish 

 brown eggs, generally in some artific- 

 ially constructed shelter. Thus we 

 find them nesting in bird boxes, unused 

 gutters, tin cans of all sizes, which by 

 chance are elevated somewhat above 

 the ground, holes in the fence posts, 

 old wood-pecker holes, and in one in- 

 stance in a watering pot which was 

 suspended from the back porch. * 

 Some years ago when the writer was 

 preparing a report on "Odd and pecul- 

 iar Nests and Nesting" (the completion 

 of which was interrupted by a long per- 

 iod of sickness,) he received an inter- 



*Report on the House "Wren, U. S. Dep't. of 

 Agriculture, 1895. 

 +Mr. Roy G. Fitcli, since deceased. 



esting note from an observer in the 

 West f as follows: "The day before 

 yesterday I took a set of seven eggs of 

 the House Wren. I have taken many 

 sets of these eggs before, but the pecul- 

 iar situation of tho nest, etc, warranted 

 I think, taking it. An old rubber boot 

 had been cut down to the ankle and the 

 foot used as a shoe by one of the farm- 

 ers about here, and had afterwards 

 been discarded in the field. In clear- 

 ing up the field the next Spring prepar- 

 atory to planting, tLe improvised shoe 

 had been thrown carelessly into a brush 

 heap at the edge of the field, and re- 

 mained there. The birds took posses- 

 sion of this and filled it with sticks ard 

 then built a nest, thus making for 

 themselves a very substantial abode. 

 The nest and it's encasing of boot foot, 

 make a very interesting addition to my 

 collection " In most localities, this bit 

 of perpetual motion is respected by the 

 farmer, and his worth fully appreciat- 

 ed. Hunting with the minutest care, 

 but with marvelous agility, the Wrens 

 skip hither and thither along the fences, 

 about the brush heaps, in and out 

 among the stones of the loosely con- 

 structed walls of the pastures, through 

 the orchards, and about the out build- 

 ings, searching with their little pierce- 

 ing eyes, every crevice, nook, and cran- 

 ny, for food for their youngsters and 

 themselves, and altogether make one 

 of the most useful, and certainly the 

 least expensive of the farmer's assist- 

 ants. The report of the U. S. Dep't. of 

 Agriculture, on this bird, gives the re- 

 sults of the examination of fifty two 

 stomachs, taken from a range extend- 

 ing from Connecticut to California. 



Ninety-eight of the stomach contents 

 was composed of insects, while the 

 remaining two per cent, was composed 

 of rubbish, like bits of grass, wood, and 

 sand, which was in all probability taken 

 by accident. No vegetable food could 

 be said to have been taken intention- 

 ally, was found in any one of these 



