L'iO 



>I()RTII AMIJUICAN BIRDS. 



Tro^lodiitm fP'ton. 



tijict species, the ditlercnces in pluiiiuiife beiiii; very slii^lit, and in lial»it.s, 

 nest, anil eiriis nut aj»{ne(ial>le, thoii«4;li I )r. Cooper tliinks there is a diller- 

 enee in tlu-ir son^. Anotlicr race or a ('l(»sely allied species, T. aztecun, is 

 found in ^lexico, near the l)orders of the Tnited States, Init does not have 

 an extended rani^e. It is found in tlie winter in (Juatemala, 



This s})ecies does not appear to he found Iniyond the southwestern portion 

 of Maine and the soutliern portions of New Hampshire and Vermont. It 

 makes its tirst appearance in Washinuton early in A] nil, and for a while is 



v«'rv alanidant, visitin«^ verv familiar- 

 ly the public grounds of the ca})itol, 

 l»rivate gardens, out-l)uildin<,^s, and the 

 eaves of dwellings. It does not ap- 

 ]»ear in the New England States until 

 after the tirst Meek in May, and leaves 

 f<tr the South ahout the last of Sep- 

 tember. It is not observed in any 

 ]tortion of the Ignited States after the 

 first of November. 



The hollows of tlecaying trees, (crev- 

 ices in rocks, oi* the centre of meshes 

 of interlacing vines, are their natural 

 resorts. Tliese they readily relinijuish 

 for the facilities offered in the societv 

 of man. They are bold, sociable, confiding birds, and will enter into the 

 closest relations with those wlio cultivate their ac»iuaintance, building 

 their nests from ]treference under the eaves of houses, in corners of the 

 wooi'-shed, a (dothes-line box, olive-jars, martin-boxes, open gourds, an 

 old iiat, the skull of an ox placed on a [wde, the pocket of a carriage, 

 or even the sleeve of an old coat left hanging in an out-building. In the 

 spring of ISo.") a ]iair of these Wrens nested within the luaise and over 

 the door of the room of the late IJobert Kennic<»tt, where tliey raised 

 their brctods in safety They built a secon<l nest im a .shelf in the same 

 room, which thev entered throuuh a knot-hole in the unceiled wall. At 

 first siiy, tliey soon became (piite tame, and did not regard the presence 

 of nieml)ers of the familv. The male bird was more shv tlian his mate, 

 and though eipially industrious in collecting in.sects woidd rarely bring 

 tliem nt'arer than the knot-hole, where the female would receive them. 

 The female with her brood was destroyed by a cat, but this did not deter 

 the male bird from a]>pearing the following season with another mate and 

 buihling their nest in the same place. Another instance of a singular selec- 

 tion of a bre(Mling-place has been given l»y the same authority. Dr. Kenni- 

 C(»tt, the father of Kobeit, a country physician, ilrove an old two-wheeled 

 o])en gig, in the back of which was a box, a foot in length by three inches 

 in wi»lth, open at the top. In this a pair of Wrens insisted, time after time, 



