130 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



55. WREN. 



Troglodytes vulgaris. 



"Jenny" Wren is so common and well known, 

 and such a deservedly favourite bird with us, that a 

 few words will suffice with regard to her. I cannot 

 assign any good reason for using the feminine gender 

 in treating of the Wren, as many of its actions and 

 manners are essentially masculine, but I suppose 

 that the nicknames " Cock-Robin " and " Jenny 

 Wren " will stick to their respective owners as long 

 as our language lasts, or, at all events, till all birds 

 are improved (!) out of our country, and this must be 

 my excuse for this most unscientific commencement. 

 The Wren abounds with us and sings almost all the 

 year round with unabated vigour, particularly on a 

 bright frosty morning. . I have noticed that when an 

 occupied nest of these birds is found, one or two more, 

 apparently unfinished, may pretty certainly be dis- 

 covered in the close vicinity; in the spring of 1870 

 I knew of thirty-four Wrens' nests in our gardens 

 and pleasure-grounds, of which number fifteen only 

 were eventually occupied. These nests are often used 

 in the winter months as night refuges by little parties 

 of Wrens, whose habit of thus clustering together 

 in various suitable retreats has often been noticed. 

 This hardy little bird braves the cold of winter in the 

 Highlands of Scotland, where it may be found about 

 the banks of the mountain burns as long as they 

 remain unfrozen. 



