28 



THE COMMON WREN 



its long slender bill and claws, adapted for climbing trees, and cap- 

 turing insects. It may often be seen solitary or in pairs, running 

 spirally up the trunks of trees, and probing the bark with its bill. 

 It frequents woods, parks, pleasure grounds, copses and hedge- 

 rows, incessantly searching for insects, their eggs, larvae, chrysalids 

 or pupae, on the trunks of trees, hence invaluable in woods, in 

 fields and hedgerows, in parks, pleasure-grounds and fruit planta- 

 tions. The nest of this elegant little bird is made in a decayed tree. 

 The eggs are from seven to nine in number, grey, with dusky spots. 

 The COMMON WREN (Troglodytes vulgaris), Fig. 25, is one. of the 

 smallest of our resident British birds, and averages about 4 in. 

 in length. Of solitary habits, it prys into crevices and holes, nooks 



FIG. 25. THE COMMON WREN AND NEST OF YOUNG. 



and corners, where few other birds go, and is found in woods, copses, 

 hedgerows, pleasure grounds and gardens, often scrutinizing fruit- 

 tree walls, and not infrequently visiting glass structures. It is 

 constantly in motion, searching for insects, which form its accus- 

 tomed food. 



The nest of the wren is built in any convenient cranny ; an 

 ivy-covered tree, the thatch of a barn or cottage, or a hedge bottom, 

 and is usually of an oven-like shape, covered on the outside with 



