806 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



beam under a wood-shed. A pair of wrens 

 took it into tlieir heads that one of the folds 

 in this canvas was a nice place to make a nest, 

 and bring up a family of children, and the 

 situation was selected. When I was there, I 

 had the satisfaction of taking a peep at the 

 nest. It was a gem of a thing. There were 

 three or four young ones in it at the time. 



The following anecdote I relate on the au- 

 thority of Wilson: "A box," he says, "fitted 

 up in the window of the room where I slept, 

 was taken possession of by a pair of wrens. 

 Already the nest was built, and two eggs laid ; 

 when one day, the window being open, as well 

 as the door, the female wren, venturing too flir 

 into the room, was sprang upon by the cat, 

 and destroyed. Curious to know how the sur- 

 viving wren would act in the circumstances, 

 I watched him carefully for several days. At 

 first he sang, with great spirit. This continued 

 for an hour or two. After this, becoming un- 

 easy, he went ofi" for an hour. On his return, 

 he chanted again, as before, and went to the 

 top of the house, stable, and weeping willow, 

 so that his mate would hear him ; but see- 

 ing nothing of her, he returned once more, 

 visited the nest, ventured cautiously into the 

 window, gazed about with suspicious looks. 



