106 WREN. 



of a river; one has been known to be placed in an old bonnet fixed 

 up among some peas to frighten the birds, and one close to a constant 

 thoroughfare. Mr. Hewitson mentions one built against a clover stack, 

 and formed entirely of clover, and so becoming part of the stack 

 itself. 



Other situations for nests are the tops of honeysuckle and raspberry 

 bushes, in the latter case the nest being made of the leaves of the tree; 

 in fir trees, trellis -work, granaries, the branches of wall-fruit trees, and 

 lofts, use being made occasionally of the holes previously tenanted by 

 Sparrows and Starlings. One has been known built withinside that of 

 a Swallow, and another in the old nest of a Thrush; one, again, in 

 the newly-finished nest of a Martin, another on a branch of a yew tree 

 among the foliage, and another in one of the hatches in the river at 

 Winchester. Mr. Jesse relates a curious anecdote of a Wren's nest, 

 the owner of which being disturbed by some children watching it, 

 blocked up the original entrance, and opened out a new one on the 

 other side. In the garden of Nunburnholme Rectory one was built, 

 in 1854, in the middle of a low quickset hedge, near the top, close to 

 the walk. It was composed nearly entirely of dry leaves. 



The male feeds the female while sitting. Two broods are produced 

 in the season. The least disturbance will cause the nest to be forsaken, 

 and a new one built, and this again and again, if so required, until 

 the eggs are laid; even then, if they or the young be once handled, 

 this species will sometimes desert them. This, or some interruption of 

 the ordinary course of laying, may be the cause of tenantless nests of 

 the Wren being so frequently found; it is, however, said that a forsaken 

 nest will sometimes be again returned to. Thus several nests of the 

 same year are often found near together, the work of one and the same 

 pair of birds; and other nests, in the making of which both birds assist, 

 are not very unfrequently put together in the autumn, and in these the 

 birds shelter themselves in the winter, possibly as being of the newest, 

 and therefore the best, construction, and made too late in the year for 

 a further brood: these nests seldom, if ever, contain any feathers. The 

 young are said to return to lodge in the nest for some time after 

 being fledged. 



The eggs are usually from seven to eight in number, but generally 

 not more than eight, though as many as a dozen, or even fourteen, 

 have been found, of a pale reddish white colour, the former tint being 

 transient; some are dusky white. This ground colour is sprinkled all 

 over with small spots of dark crimson red, and these most numerous 

 at the obtuse end; some are quite white: the shell is very thin and 

 polished. 



