HOUSE WREN 



the lid. The bottom of the box was packed with a mass of twigs, 

 enough drawn through the opening to block the passage of any 

 larger bird, while on the top of these, at the back of the house 

 sat the round, grassy, feather-lined nest. 



The feathers so arched and enclosed it that I had to bend 

 them back to picture any part of the interior. It was the first 

 time I ever had touched the nest of a Wren, so unless you are well 

 versed in Wren history you can not imagine my surprise. The 

 eggs were very round, perhaps white for a background, but com- 

 pletely sprinkled with pinkish, brownish mottling, while I thought 

 them enormous, for the size of the bird ; and this you will scarcely 

 credit, yet if you take an enlarging glass and count carefully you 

 can see most of them, for there were nine. I tried to arrange 

 them so all would show, but the nest was so round they would 

 roll together, while I was in a hurry to finish and replace the nest 

 before the mother bird returned to join the father, who was 

 angrily scolding me and constantly darting at my head. He was 

 quite as pugnacious as any Jay I ever worked around, so I made 

 two hasty exposures, then closed and replaced the house. As far 

 as I could see the mother did not know it had been moved; she 

 entered with no hesitation on her return and settled to brooding, 

 while she did not come out again that forenoon. None of the 

 other boxes were ever touched. 



I fully intended to open this box, make friends with the young 

 and try to take their pictures as I did those of other young birds; 

 but when I thought, dating from the beginning of food carrying, 

 that it was nearly time to begin, I was called from home on busi- 

 ness; when I returned the nest was empty. So I have no 

 studies of the young, which must be too cunning for words, if 

 they are reproductions in miniature of their elders. 



The Wren has so many endearing qualities one can scarcely 

 enumerate all of them. He is a beautiful little bird, having a 



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