146 SYNOPSIS AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
bird; Jenny and Kittie are names of affection.) If 
you find, in a bush or hedgerow, a very small rounded 
and plump, not very shy, and exceedingly active bird, 
with brown back, wings and tail, the wings and tail 
barred black, and the tail, which is flat, short (? inch long) 
and blunt, and often cocked up, and a dark twinkling 
eye and a short beak, that bird is the common wren. 
It is generally alone except at nesting time. Male and 
female almost indistinguishable. Inhabits wooded dis- 
tricts chiefly, and wanders much. Not migratory, 
Length of body: About 1? inches. Flight: Rapid, 
short and bustling. Food: Mostly insects. Nest: In 
May or June. Generally well concealed. Sziwated: In 
various positions, on trunks, in ivy, thatch, etc. Beau- 
tifully constructed. Dome-shaped, about 8 or g inches 
long by 5 or 6 inches broad, with a hole of entrance near 
the top. Made of: Lichens, moss, roots, leaves and 
feathers, etc. Glued together to make a wall about 
134 inches thick. Lined inside with soft feathers. 
(Compare nest of long-tailed tit.) Often two or three 
nests are partially or ‘completely built before one is 
selected for the eggs. Eggs: Very small, white, with a 
few red spots. Generally six to eight. 
