Illustrations of the Method 



time before a definite course 

 of approach was adopted, and 

 this was necessarily modified 

 whenever the stump was ro- 

 tated to improve the light. 

 The young chirped briskly as 

 the mother approached, and, 

 like the young of other birds, 

 were keenly alive to every 

 sound. After inspecting and 

 cleaning the nest, she would 

 return to the entrance, often 

 with the excreta in her bill, 

 survey the field for a moment, 

 and be off. 



This bird had the peculiar 

 habit of tearing the legs and 

 wings from large grasshoppers 

 and moths before bringing them 

 to the nest. The photographs 

 demonstrate this clearly. The 

 effect of such rough treatment 

 was certainly to prevent the 

 escape of the prey. I was sur- 

 prised to find that small spiders 

 were also subjected to a similar 

 ordeal, only their plump, spheri- 

 cal abdomens, which I at first 

 mistook for egg-cocoons, being 

 served to the young (Fig. 16). 



I once drove this bird away 

 with my hand four times in 

 rapid succession, until the in- 

 sect which was finally delivered 

 could be observed and a photo- 

 graph obtained. This was a 

 good illustration of the force 



Figs. 20-23. House Wrens, entering, 

 leaving, and cleaning nest. 



