i26 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



wrens and distinctly barred ; underparts of the body of a whit- 

 ish color. The male and female are alike in size, color and 

 general appearance. 



The range of the house wren extends from the Gulf of 

 Mexico north to Manitoba, and in the United States west to 

 the Mississippi River. It winters south of the Carolinas. It 

 comes north in March and April and returns south in Septem- 

 ber and October. It breeds throughout its range northward 

 from central Indiana, Illinois and southern Ohio. The nest- 

 ing season begins about the tenth of May. It nests in almost 

 any kind of a suitable hole or cavity and will take possession 

 of a bird box or gourd, if not prevented from doing so by the 

 English sparrows. Four to eight whitish eggs, uniformly and 

 minutely speckled with purplish brown, constitute a clutch. 

 Two and sometimes three broods are reared in a season. 



Many interesting stories have been narrated about the 

 places which have been taken possession of by these birds for 

 nesting purposes. ' One of these is as follows : "The home of a 

 wren, a few miles from Petersburg, Va., furnishes the strang- 

 est case in the matter of queer habitations yet discovered. This 

 country is the site of one of the most dramatic epochs of the 

 civil war, and frequently the bones of unburied soldiers are 

 picked up. Recently a rusty old skull was found in which 

 one of these wrens chose a shelter. The skull, when found, 

 was hidden in a patch of shrubbery. The interior of the one- 

 time pate was carefully cleaned out, and nestled in the basin 

 of the bony structure was the birthplace of many a baby wren. 

 The skull made a perfect domicile. A bullet hole in the rear 

 formed a window. An eyeless socket was the exit and en- 

 trance to the grim home." The nesting habits of the wren 

 are interesting because, as I have said, of the strange places 

 frequently selected by them for their nests and because of the 

 fact that they build many sham nests. Why they build 

 these has been a mystery to bird students. Some think they 

 do it to prevent other birds from using the holes and cavities 

 in the vicinity of their real nests. Others think that the sham 

 nests are built for the use of the male and first brood while 

 the female is brooding the second time and even the third 

 time. Others think that it is done so that the male may pre- 



