854: HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



"At first he sang with great vivacity for an hour or so, but be- 

 coming weary, went off for half an hour ; on his return he chant- 

 ed again as before, went to the top of the house, stable, and weep- 

 ing-willow, that she might hear him ; but, seeing no appearance 

 of her, he returned once more, visited the nest, ventured cautious- 

 ly into the window, and gazed about with suspicious looks, his 

 voice sinking to a low, melancholy note as he stretched his little 

 neck about in every direction. Keturning to the box, he seemed 

 for some minutes at a loss what to do, and soon after went off as 

 I thought altogether, for I saw him no more that day. 



" Toward the afternoon of the second day he again made his 

 appearance, accompanied by a new female, who seemed exceed- 

 ingly timorous and shy, and who, after great hesitation, entered 

 the box ; at this moment the little widower or bridegroom seem- 

 ed as if he would warble out his very life with ecstasy of joy. 

 After remaining about half a minute in, they both flew off, but 

 returned in a few minutes, and instantly began to carry out the 

 eggs, feathers, and some of the sticks, supplying the place of the 

 latter with materials of the same sort ; and ultimately they suc- 

 ceeded in raising a brood of seven young, all of which escaped in 

 safety." 



In this little narrative there are two curious points to be no- 

 ticed, the one that the eggs already laid were turned out, and the 

 other that the new mistress of the house, with a natural jealousy 

 of her predecessor, rearranged the interior so as to suit her own 

 ideas of good taste. 



As the bird is so useful, the proprietors of gardens would be 

 glad to have a number of families in their domains. This plan, 

 however admirable in theory, is found to be impracticable in fact, 

 the quarrelsome nature of the bird enduring no rival. During 

 the building season, the House Wren sings, fights, and builds with 

 equal energy, and drives away birds of three times his size. The 

 woodpecker is obliged to quit so, disturbed a spot ; the fussy and 

 active titmice yield to the Wren, and even the bluebird itself, 

 which is also a favored inmate of the garden, and is furnished 

 with breeding-boxes, is obliged to retire from the field, and to al- 

 low its tiny antagonist the choice of houses. 



Australia is proverbially a strange land, and it is only in 

 Australia, or perhaps in Madagascar, that we should look for a 

 wren measuring some seventeen inches in height. Such a bird 



