THE OOLOGIST, 



71 



when an intruder comes into their 

 territory, both wrens will hop around 

 these false nests scolding at a tremen- 

 dous rate. 



The male bird nearly always sings 

 near the sitting female, as is charac- 

 teristic of most wrens, but in spite of 

 this a search for the nest is a good 

 deal like the proverbial "hunting for a 

 needle in a haystack.' On only one oc- 

 casion have I been able to see the fe- 

 male on the nest, for she usually 

 leaves at the first approach of danger, 

 and is seldom to be noticed in the vi- 

 cinity while the intruder is present. 



Of all the birds in my acquaintance, 

 these are the most particular as to 

 how their nest is examined. Should 

 a finger be introduced ever so care- 

 fully, for the purpose of ascertaining 

 the contents they will invaribly desert 

 if the full set is not laid This is a 

 most distressing habit to the collector, 

 as the nest cavity is always from two 

 to three inches deep, and its contents 

 canot possibly be known without feel- 

 ing in it. 



J. H. BOWLES. 



Wrens! 



Now is the time to put up your wren 

 boxes. The destruction of timber, the 

 decerase in the number of woodpeck- 

 ers to excavate holes, and the multipli- 

 cation of the English Sparrows have 

 deprived these little birds of a large 

 percent of their natural homes. No 

 bird will more amply repay the little 

 trouble of putting ui) a box for them. 

 This should be made of % inch lum- 

 ber — eld lumber is the best — any 

 shaije will do; and should be tight 

 and wateritroof, with a one inch hole 

 bored into one side. A larger hole 

 will admit English Sparrows and then 

 it would be good-bye to the Wren fam- 

 ily. 



.Vail this box up anywhere on a tree, 



under a veranda, to a gate post or on 



to the side of a house and the Wrens 

 will do the rest. All summer long 

 these midgets will be bobbing, flutter- 

 ing and singing about your premises. 

 The natural food of the Wren is large- 

 ly spiders. One pair of wrens around 

 a home will prevent more spider webs 

 in a week than a good housewife and 

 a broom can do away with in a month. 

 Let each of us i)ut u]) at least one 

 Wren bcx now. 



The Red Tail HawK. 



Ther are few more benenoial birds 

 than this Hawk. Its naairal food be- 

 ing small furred animals. Gophers, 

 Field Mice, Moles, Ground Squirrels 

 and the like, makes it one of the farm- 

 er's most valued friends. Yet it will 

 occasionally kill and carry away a 

 huge bull snake, four or five feet long; 

 or once in a great while, a chicken; 

 though this hawk seldom if ever, takes 

 feathered game, when it can by any 

 possibility, secure a small furred ani- 

 mal. How is this friendshii) for and 

 actual service to the farmer rei)aid? 

 Most shamefully! Every time the big 

 splendid bird soars into view, everyone 

 in sight at once notes that a "Chicken 

 Hawk" is abroad. All rush pell mell 

 for a shotgun or rifle and a desperate 

 effort is at once made by all the fools 

 in sight to assassinate the very bird 

 they shculd protect. 



As the result of such persecution, 

 this Hawk is now one-third as numer- 

 ous in Central Illinois as it formerly 

 was. While the Pocket Go|)her, 

 Ground Squirrel and Field Mice have 

 increased ten fold. They are now a 

 positive damage to the crops. 



The writer once found a Red Tail's 

 nest thirty feet up in a tree under 

 which an old chicken hen and her flock 

 cf young made their headquarters. The 

 owner said he never had lost a single 

 chick. 



