150 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



marsh-wren. In three days the work was completed, 

 and was not better than any child could have made with 

 the same material, wrapping, winding, and fitting them 

 over his fist. Not one particle of ingenuity was displayed 

 at any time. On the fourth day the first egg was laid, 

 and on this day a cat succeeded in catching the male 

 bird. As the female did not seem to miss him very 

 much, and as it was this mishap that made the subsequent 

 study of the nest and female bird possible, I did not ob- 

 ject to the interference. The widowed wren wandered 

 about quite as usual, constantly uttering a very cheery 

 chirp, and gathering up a goodly quantity of insects 

 every day. One egg was laid each day, until four had 

 been deposited, when she commenced sitting. The fourth 

 egg was pure white, the others of the usual color and 

 markings. An interesting physiological question here 

 arises which may be briefly referred to. This species of 

 wren usually lays from seven to nine eggs, and hatches 

 them all. Did, in this case of the widowed wren, the 

 influence of the male only reach to the third or possibly 

 the fourth egg ? Of the four eggs laid, the last did not 

 hatch, and I judged from its contents that the yolk had 

 been imperfect. Again, did the death of the male bird 

 indirectly cause the shell of the fourth egg laid to be 

 wholly colorless ? The season was too far advanced to 

 make any additional observations, and I may add further- 

 more that this is the only instance I ever knew of a bird 

 continuing to sit after the death of her mate. 



After the young wrens were but a day old, the parent 

 bird was seldom seen except for a moment at a time, 

 when she would dart into the outbuilding through a knot- 

 hole in one of the weather-boards, with a supply of food 

 for her young. Then off she would go again, usually to 

 the low roof of an adjoining building, and there would 



