72 JVBSTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS. 



Six or seven eggs are deposited, which are nearly round, but 

 vary among themselves, averaging about .73 by .60. They are 

 white or pinkish white, profusely but pretty evenly dotted with 

 purple, slate, reddish-brown and red. Sometimes the ground 

 color is quite hidden ; and in some eggs there is a denser 

 wreath about the larger end. 



In houses the birds become very tame, but in the woods thev 

 are, as Dr. Coues expresses it, "very private about their domestic 

 arrangements, and generally slip off quietly if the}' have an 

 unwelcome caller. They keep the young ones about them for 

 a few days after they leave the nest, and during this period 

 thev are in a state of perpetual panic." The extraordinary fe- 

 cundity of these wrens is shown by Mr. Charles Dury, who 

 records that at Cincinnati the first brood was following the 

 male about on April 35, the female, meanwhile, being actively 

 constructing a second nest under the stable rafters, in which 

 she soon deposited eggs and began sitting, cheered by the loud 

 and happy notes of the male, who had by this time got rid of 

 his noisy bro(xl. In due time five more wrens appeared, and 

 the hard-worked parents supplied the insatiable appetites with 

 spiders, bugs and larva; of every description until early in 

 July when they left the nest under the protection of the male. 

 The female immediately set herself at work on another large 

 nest, where five eggs were laid and she sat a third time. 



The Variety berlandieri, No. 47^5 is found in the valley 

 of the Rio Grande, where, with Bewick's wren, it is common. 

 Thence this extends westward. Mr. Sennett described this bird 

 as breeding at Hidalgo, Texas, near the ground, seldom high- 

 er than five feet, in hollow trees, stubs, and even dead limbs ly- 

 ing on the ground. By May i, the young were about with the 

 parents ; at the same time perfectly fresh eggs were taken. 

 Three suites of eggs were secured, all from the same local- 

 ity, whei-e there seemed to be a colony breeding, many having 

 families of young. Two of the sets were alike in color and 

 markings. Of these, one (a set of five) was taken May i 

 from an opening four feet from the ground, in a hollow tree ; 

 the other (a set of four) was taken May 7 from a rotten tree 



