2Q2 



Trees, Stars, and Birds 



Finley & Bohlman 



FIG. 177. A house wren on the 

 roof of its home. This small bird 

 is one of the most valuable orchard 

 or garden tenants. 



4f inches long, and barely 

 half as heavy as an English 

 sparrow. It is reddish brown, 

 and has a slender bill quite 

 unlike the bill of a sparrow. 

 It winters in the southern 

 United States and in Mexico. 

 Wrens have a propensity 

 for going into holes, not 

 merely to nest but perhaps 

 for protection or in search of 

 food. They eat weevils and 

 other beetles, crickets, grass- 

 hoppers, bugs, cutworms and 

 other caterpillars, spiders, 

 and ticks. Where brush piles are accessible, the wrens 

 seem to be quite at home in them. Could they find 

 food in such places ? j 



Wrens are as interesting to watch as any of the birds 

 that commonly make their homes close to the dwellings 

 of men. They scold on the approach of a cat or of a 

 strange person. When they are in a better mood, their 

 lively, bubbling song seems loud enough for birds three 

 times their size. The surplus energy of a wren is mani- 

 fested in its quick movements and jerking tail, which it 

 often holds up almost at a right angle with the back. 



Wrens build more nests than they use ; that is, they 

 fill various cavities with materials like those used in mak- 

 ing their nests. They lay from six to ten eggs. These 

 are of a pale reddish color, with fine dots of a darker 

 shade. A box for wrens should have the opening too 



