206 



NIDIFICATION OF WINTER WREN 



The nest was a cavity in the long- moss (ISphagnum acuti- 

 folium 1) covering tlie perpendicular face of a granite boulder.* 

 The latter was embedded in the sloping bank of the lake, the 

 water of which came within a yard or two of its site. The 

 vicinity was wooded. On examination, I found that the whole 

 of the moss containing the nest was kept constantly saturated 



NEST AND EGG OF WINTER WREN. 



A. Mois confaining nest, detached from H^irronnding portion ; 1-^ vat. size.—B. 

 Section of A ; 1-4 nat. size.- C. Eg<j ; naf. size. 



with water which came from the bank above and flowed over 

 the top of the stone, thence passing through the moss, from 

 which it dripped at the base. The little cavity was therefore 

 surrounded by a wet mass w^hich must have kept the eggs at 

 a very low temperature. How^ the bird could maintain sufficient 

 warmth to hatch them, is a mystery to me, especially as she 

 seemed to be of a gadding disposition. 



This damp condition of the nest I consider a peculiar circum- 

 stance. The Wrens, however, are noted for their eccentric ideas 

 as to the proper situation for a nest. The European species 

 (T. vulgaris), which is closely related to the Winter Wren, 

 and which in fact was confounded with it b}^ some early writers, 

 has been known to build in such a curious place as the body of a 

 hawk which had been killed and nailed to the side of a barn, and 

 likewise in the throat of a dead calf, in the interior of a pump, 



' The nest was about a foot from the ground at the base of the stone. 



