14 TROGLODYTID^E. 



The common Argentine Wren is to all English residents the " House- 

 Wren/-' and is considered to be identical with the species familiar to 

 them in their own country. It is a sprightly little bird, of a uniform 

 brown colour and a cheerful melodious voice ; a tireless hunter after 

 small spiders and caterpillars in hedges, gardens, and outhouses, where 

 it explores every dark hole and cranny, hopping briskly about with tail 

 erect, and dropping frequent little curtsies ; always prompt to scold an 

 intruder with great emphasis ; a great hater of cats. 



It was my belief at one time that the Wren was one of the little birds 

 a cat never could catch; but later on I discovered that this was a 

 mistake. At my home on the pampas we once had a large yellow torn 

 cat exceedingly dexterous in catching small birds ; he did not, however, 

 eat them himself, but used to bring them into the house for the other 

 cats. Two or three times a day he would appear with a bird, which he 

 would drop at the door, then utter a loud mew very well understood by 

 the other cats, for they would all fly to the spot in great haste, and the 

 first to arrive would get the bird. At one time I noticed that he 

 brought in a Wren almost every day, and, curious to know how he 

 managed to capture so clever a bird, I watched him. His method was 

 to go out into the grounds frequented by Wrens, and seat himself 

 conspicuously amongst the weeds or bushes ; and then, after the first 

 burst of alarm had subsided amongst the small birds, one or two Wrens 

 would always take on themselves the task of dislodging him, or, at all 

 events, of making his position a very uncomfortable one. The cat 

 would sit perfectly motionless, apparently not noticing them at all, and 

 by-and-by this stolid demeanour would have its effect, and one of the 

 Wrens, growing bolder, would extend his dashing little incursions to 

 within a few inches of pussy's demure face; then at last, swift as 

 lightning, would come the stroke of a paw, and the little brown body 

 would drop down with the merry brave little spirit gone from it. 



The House- Wren is widely distributed in South America, from the 

 tropical forests to the cold uplands of Patagonia, and, possessing a 

 greater adaptiveness than most species, it inhabits every kind of 

 country, moist or dry, and is as much at home on lofty mountains and 

 stony places as in the everglades of the Plata, where it frequents the 

 reed-beds and damp forests. About houses they are always to be found ; 

 and though the traveller on the desert pampas might easily imagine 

 that there are no Wrens in the giant grasses, if he makes himself a 

 lodge in this lonely region, a Wren will immediately appear to make its 

 nest in his thatch and cheer him with its song. 



Even in large towns they are common, and I always remember one 

 flying into a church in Buenos Ayres one Sunday, and, during the 



