THE WREN. 



103 



disappear, and then again out it would come with its tail 

 cocked up, peering at you with a pert yet confiding look, 

 and treating you with a burst of his thrilling, quick, and 

 bustling song. One is never lonely when a wren is near. 



In many parts of England to kill a wren is tantamount 

 to bringing down on the family of the murderer, poverty 

 and misfortune, if not something worse. 



In Ireland, however, this poor little bird was formerly 



THE WREN. 



subjected to severe persecution on Christmas Day, when 

 the hunting of the wren took place a barbarous custom, 

 the origin for which is not well known. Mr. and Mrs. S. 

 C. Hall, in their " Ireland, its Scenery and Character," 

 say that when the Danes invaded Ireland the Irish were 

 on the point of surprising their enemies during sleep, when 

 a wren perched upon a drum awoke the sentinels just in 

 time to save the army, whereupon the bird was denounced 



