232 BIRDS' NESTS 



Dippers, nests in a very similar manner, placing its 

 domed nest in a suitable nook on the banks of the 

 rocky streams and gullies that it frequents. 



Very similar nest-makers are the Wrens (Trog- 

 lodytid^), although their globular homes must be 

 taken in the sense of an analogy rather than an 

 affinity, for these birds cannot be regarded as very 

 close relatives of the Dippers. As already pointed 

 out, the domed type of nest is not absolutely uni- 

 versal in this family, but the normal style of architec- 

 ture is a globular one, and that is all that need 

 concern us in the present chapter. Beginning with 

 the most familiar species, we have the pretty globular 

 nest of the Common Wren {Troglodytes parvulus). 

 Although this is always constructed on the same 

 general plan, there is a very large range of variation 

 in the general shape and the materials employed, 

 due to local conditions of site and so forth. The 

 situations for it vary considerably also. Among the 

 more frequent may be mentioned bushes, brambles, 

 ivy, overhanging banks, amongst the exposed roots 

 of trees, and in stumps in hedges. Less usual situa- 

 tions are amongst thatch, in hay- and wood-stacks, or 

 the extremity of some long pendent branch of an 

 evergreen tree. The Wren is another of those species 

 that takes great pains to conceal its nest by closely 

 assimilating it with surrounding objects, hence the 

 great variety of the external materials of its cradle. 

 According to circumstances, therefore, the outer 



