STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



The position of the nest, too, conceals its true form so well, 

 that a very practised eye is needed to distinguish it from an 

 ordinary swelling of the bough, or from the heaps of dislodged 

 twigs which are so often found in the forked branches of trees. 



Another oi our feathered dome-builders is the common 

 Wren {Troglodytes vulgaris). The form and colouring of this 

 bird are too well known to need description, and we shall 

 therefore pass at once to its mode of nesting. 



The Wren is rather peculiar in its method ot constructing 

 the nest, for though it can build a dome when there is need 

 for it, and generally does so, it does not always choose to take 

 so much trouble, but contents itself with an open nest arched 

 over by a natural dome. Wherever it can find a convenient 

 cavity, it will make its nest therein, building either no dome at 

 all, or one of very flimsy construction, and such nests can 

 generally be found in the holes of ivy-covered walls, under 

 eaves, or among the thickly growing branches of fir-trees. 



During the time when the Wren is building its nest, it& 

 loud, cheerful voice is heard in full perfection, and so full and 

 powerful are its tones that the tiny bird seems hardly able to 

 produce them. It is but a short song, and is little varied, the 

 bird repeating nearly the same melody time after time within a 

 few minutes. The long-drawn song of the nightingale, or the 

 mellow notes of the thrush, are beyond the power of the Wren, 

 but there are few birds whose song is more enlivening, or which 

 add so much to the pleasure of a country walk. Besides the 

 more formal song, the Wren has a pretty little monosyllabic 

 chirp, which it utters as it pops about the hedges with its pecu- 

 liar movements, dropping and ascending again with restless 

 activity. The bird is so bold, too, that it will perch on a 

 branch or a paling within a yard or two of the observer, 

 and pour forth its bright song without displaying the least 

 alarm. 



As to the materials of the nest, the bird is no way fasti- 

 dious, and generally seems to regard quantity rather tlian 

 quality. Grasses of various kinds usually form the bulk of the 



