THE BLUE WREN OR SUPERB WARBLER. 183 



CHAPTER CIV. 



THE BLUE WREN OR SUPERB WARBLER. 

 (Mahtrus cyaneus, Ellis. ) 



This useful little gem is so well known as to hardly 

 need any description, it being a general favorite every- 

 where. 



The plumage of the male of the Blue Wren as the 

 plate shows is much more showy than that of the 

 female, the lovely blue feathers forming a striking 

 contrast with the more sombre plumage of its tiny 

 mate. 



The nest, to quote Mr. Campbell, is globular, side-top 

 entrance, usually composed of old, greyish, weather- 

 beaten grass, with an admixture of cocoons, lined inside 

 with fine yellow-colored grass; and, finally, with 

 feathers, hair, down, seed-vessels, etc., placed near the 

 ground in a low dense bush or tussock of grass. The 

 eggs are laid in clutches of from three to four, occasionally 

 five ; the shape, size and color being according to the 

 accompanying plate. The breeding season is included 

 in the months from August and September to January, 

 during which period it rears two or three broods. It 

 is also well known to ornithologists in Victoria and 

 elsewhere as being among the foster-parents of the 

 Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoo itself a valuable insect- 

 destroyer, and about which we have already written in 

 Part III . of the present work . This beautiful species varies 

 considerably in its markings, but this fact can only be 

 observed by anyone skilled in bush matters, Mr. R. Hall, 

 formerly of our city, having given this part of the 

 subject much consideration. The male of this species 

 is polygamous, it being no uncommon sight to witness 



