About the House. 



21 



brown or black. The lower parts vary, from dull gray white to deep buff, 

 the throat usually being lighter. The feathers below the tail are barred with 

 dusky markings, and sometimes the flanks, too, are barred with blackish. 

 The length of the bird is rather more than five inches and a half. 



The nesting economy is not unlike that of a House Wren, and frequently 

 the nests are found about buildintrs in nooks and crevices. 



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Near my home in Florida, a pair one year built a nest on a beam of an 

 outhouse, entering through a knothole. But the woods are more attractive 

 to these birds ; holes in old trees and stumps are favorite sites for nests. The 

 nest is a large structure for so small a bird, is made of grasses, leaves and 

 feathers, and lined with fine material of a similar character. The eees are 

 four to six or seven in number, rosy white, thickly sprinkled with reddish 



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CAROLINA WREN. 



brown and lavender markings. They are three quarters of an inch long and 

 nearly three fifths of an inch around. The nervous energy of the wren 

 family is emphasized in these birds. Never at rest during waking hours, they 

 peer into every nook and corner, dodging from one point to another, in sight 

 for a second, gone before fairly seen, and appearing at another point least 

 anticipated, for an equally brief moment. Like Bewick's Wren the Carolina 

 Wren seems to pose when he sings, as if aware of his musical attainments, 

 and the song- is at once noticeable for its fine rincring clearness and an ad- 

 mixture of round whistling notes that distinguish it. It is one of the loudest 

 and most pronounced of small birds' songs. 



