7o NESTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS. 



river, and has been recorded as straggling northeastward to 

 Massachusetts in summer. 



It is mainly a constant resident wherever found, and is an early 

 breeder. In Florida its eggs are to be obtained in March ; in 

 the Carolinas it mates in March, nests in April, and the first 

 of its two or three broods is abroad early in May if not soon- 

 er. Mr. Allen found the young fl}ing at this time even in 

 Kansas. In West Virginia and about Philadelphia the \oung 

 are fledged by the last week in June. In the woods, its nest is 

 almost impossible to find, being artfully concealed in some odd 

 place. The bird does not so readily approach dwellings as the 

 other ^^■rens, but sometimes takes possession of niches be- 

 tween the boards or among the rafters of some out -house. 

 Mrs. Mary Treat, however, tells of a pair which after a care- 

 ful survev of the premises pitched on tlie piazza, the most 

 freqr.ented part of the house, as the site of their home. 

 Boxes nailed up for its use are also occupied. In the 

 woods these wrens choose a snug retreat in tlamp pastures, 

 settling in tlie midst of some dense vine or bush, or in the hol- 

 low of a stamp. When the great fronds of the palmetto fall 

 ofl", the bases of the dead leaf-stalks adhere, leaving pockets 

 between them and the trunk of the tree, often roofed over with 

 a fibrous debris impervious to water. These ''boots," as the 

 cavities are called, form very snug nesting-quarters. Into some 

 sucli place the wrens put a great quantity of fibrous, leafy, or 

 grass\- material, gathering any trash convenient, and thus 

 build a rather bulky nest, more or less like a ball, with a side 

 entrance. The lining is of fur, hair and feathers. The whole 

 is sometimes five or six inches in depth. Now and then, wdien 

 situation favors, the nest is not arched over. They are exceed- 

 ingly sensitive to being disturbed, and will generally abandon 

 an uncompleted nest, merely upon the suspicion that it has 

 been discovered. 



The adventures of the pair, referred to above, are thus pleas- 

 antly and instructively detailed by Mrs. Treat : 



No room in the house was so much used as the piazza. Easj-chairs 

 were scattered about for the use of the family and for chance visitors ; 



