100 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



Two or three curious facts about the nest of the 

 Wren have frequently been made subject of remark : 

 one is that the Wren adapts the materials of the 

 exterior of the nest to the place where it is constructed, 

 so as to avoid all those contrasts of colouring which 

 might attract passers-by, and thus endanger its safety. 

 For instance, if placed in a hay-stack, the outside will 

 be composed of hay ; if on a mossy bank, of moss, or 

 under a tree, of twigs ; and so on. Mr. Harting mentions 

 a case in which a Wren built a nest on a stump of a 

 tree, and hatched out its young ones. Next year it 

 built another on the top of the old one, and thus 

 inhabited " a storied house." 



Another peculiarity is that the bird sometimes con- 

 structs several nests in spring ; these are not intended 

 for incubation, but are evidently meant for "houses of 

 refuge," the bird removing from one to another, as may 

 seem desirable in the wintry weather. These " cocks* 

 nests," as they are usually called, are, however, thus 

 accounted for by a writer in The Magazine of Natural 

 History: " During the period of incubation, the male, 

 apparently from a desire to be doing something, con- 

 structs as many as half a dozen nests in the vicinity of 

 the first, none of which are lined with feathers ; and 

 whilst the first nest is so carefully concealed as to be 

 seldom found, the latter are very frequently seen." 



On the other hand, it is well known that Wrens 

 crowd together in severe weather, and these nests are 

 probably designed to afford shelter and accommodation 

 when needed in such trying times. 



The nest is a large one for the size of the bird, and is 

 domed and spherical, save on the side by which it is 



