AMERICAN ORNITHOL OGY. 



103 



HABITS. 



The Wren is one of our most fa- 

 miliar species, and is a personal fav- 

 orite with everyone, its familiar- 

 ity justifies the affection with which 

 it is generally regarded, for it is 

 one of those tame little visitors 

 which frequent the neighborhood of 

 our homes in winter, it hops about 

 HI the shrubberies and searches 

 carefully among the fallen trees for 

 the tiny insects upon which it feeds. 

 In its actions it resembles a mouse 

 creeping through brush heaps and 

 about stone walls. Occasionally it 

 appears to view on top of the wall 

 and utters its musical song. This 

 is a very quick, brilliant and rattling 

 performance, wonderfully loud for 

 so diminutive a bird. The illustra- 

 tion depicts him in natural size. 



This variety is considerably dark- 

 er than the common Winter Wren, 

 though the habits are the same. 

 They have a very irritable temper 

 and will scold at you as long as you 

 remain near, accompanying their 

 notes by vigorous jerks of their 

 tail, which is always carried erect 

 over their back. Mr. A, G. Prill, 

 of Scio, Oregon, writes as follows 

 concerning the habits of this inter- 

 esting bird: — "This beautiful little 

 wren is quite often seen in the foot- 

 hills of the Cascade Mountains in 

 Lime County, Oregon, and is most 

 conspicuous to the observer during 

 the winter months, being a constant 

 resident. At this time they come 

 close to the habitation of man. 

 During the Spring and breeding 

 season they are but seldom seen. 



but generally found in and about 

 some dead brush heap, or in a tan- 

 gled mass of vines and brush, from 

 which they bob in and out with 

 lightning like rapidity. 



Their nest is hard to find, being 

 well concealed in an old brush pile, or 

 a brier patch, generally close to the 

 ground and near woods. Two broods 

 are usually reared in a season. It 

 was my good fortune to find two 

 nests of this bird during iqoo, and I 

 will give a brief description of these. 

 Both sets were undoubtedly lyid by 

 the same bird. While out in the 

 country one day I came upon a 

 small unused cabin or outbuilding 

 some tiiree or four hundred yards 

 from a farm house. Near one cor- 

 ner of -this building was a mass of 

 dead brush and tangled grapevines 

 and berry bushes. Seeing a Win- 

 der Wren disappear in this 1 pro- 

 ceeded, to investigate and soon found 

 the nest about two feet above the 

 ground. The nest is composed out- 

 wardly of moss, dried grass stems, 

 strips^ of fine bark, and considerable 

 hair, an-d was completely lined with 

 black and white feathers and a strip 

 of snake skin about three inches long. 

 There were five eggs, the markings 

 of which were so faint that one at 

 a short distance would call them 

 white. The second set was found 

 in a brush heap less than fifty feet 

 distant on May 22, 1000. The nest 

 was similar to the first but was not 

 so compactly built, containing less 

 weeds and moss and more feathers. 

 It also contained snake skin. 



