INJURIOUS INSECTS OF 1904. 



131 



Length about seven inches, upper parts grayish brown shaded 

 with olive, top of head darker; outer edge of outer tail feathers 

 white or yellowish, except at tip. Under parts white, more or less 

 tinged with yellow ; breast and sides brownish gray ; bill black. 



This familiar bird is one of the earliest arrivals in the spring, and 

 generally first observed before the leaves appear on our trees, at 

 which time its plaintive note, sounding like "pe-wee," with the accent 

 on the last syllable, announces the arrival of spring. It is commonly 

 found near buildings on the farm, and frequently builds its bulky 

 nest of moss and mud on a beam in a shed or under a bridge. It is of 

 wide distribution, being found throughout the United States east of 

 the Plains, and is deservedly a great favorite. While it occasionally 

 takes a raspberry or blackberry, or more commonly seeds of various 

 kinds, and elderberries, wild cherries, etc., its principal food is insects ; 

 it is, in fact, a true fly catcher. Ninety-three per cent of the contents 

 of eighty stomachs examined consisted of insects and spiders. Gen- 

 erallv two broods are reared in a season. 



HOUSE WREN. 



"'N, 







Fig. 126. — House Wren. From Biological Survey U. S. Dep. of Agriculture. 



. Cinnamon brown on back, marked indistinctly with black and 

 white, becoming more reddish on rump and tail ; tail rather long 

 and marked with fine bars, black bars also showing on sides. Length 

 five inches. This saucy bird is found over the entire United States, 



