86 Birds of Oregon and Washingtoji 



PARKMAN'S HOUSE WREN. 



General Description : 



Upper parts : darkish-brown. 

 Under parts : pale buffy. 

 Length, 5 inches and more. 

 Found about human dwellings and holes in fences and 

 trees. 



It is hoped that everyone knows " Little 

 Jennie Wren," who in the spring is always look- 

 ing for a sheltered nook about the piazza, in an 

 out-building, or in a house built expressly for 

 herself. What fidgety airs, what twitching and 

 turning, what bobbing and bowing, what scolding, 

 in their own peppery style, while you are near 

 the sacred precincts of these little creatures! 

 For, though angelic singers, they have a temper 

 that even the larger birds fear. But what con- 

 trast in the bubbling song that the male will 

 pour forth, at intervals, all day long, — some- 

 times allowing no rest, when singing in response 

 to a rival. Mr. Chapman, says of the corres- 

 ponding House Wren in the East, very nearly 

 like our own, that he has heard one sing, under 

 such conditions, ten songs a minute for two 

 hours at a time. 



