96 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



ingly large I was interested to measure it. Twigs 

 were strewn loosely over one end of the box, 

 covering a square nearly sixteen inches on a side. 

 The compact high body of the nest measured 

 eight by ten inches, and came so near the top 

 of the crate that the birds could just creep in 

 under the slats. Some of the twigs were ten 

 inches long, regular broom handles in the bills of 

 the short bobbing wrens. One of the birds once 

 appeared with a twig as long as itself. It flew to 

 the side of a beam with it, at sight of me, and 

 stood there balancing the stick in its bill, in 

 pretty fashion. Another time it flew to the peak 

 of the shed to examine an old swallow's nest now 

 occupied by linnets, and amused itself throwing 

 down its neighbors' straws — the naughty little 

 rogue ! 



Such jolly songsters ! They were fairly bub- 

 bling over with happiness all the time. They 

 had an old stub in front of the shed that might 

 well have been called the singing stub, for they 

 kept it ringing with music when they were not 

 running on inside the shed. They seemed to 

 warble as easily as most birds breathe ; in fact, 

 song seemed a necessity to them. There was a 

 high pole in front of the shed, and one day I 

 found my ebullient little friend squatting on top 

 to hold himself on while he sang out at the top of 

 his lungs ! Another time I came face to face 

 with a pair when the songster was in the midst of 



