34 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



that Wrens naturally kept to the shelter of the hedgerows, 

 and seldom ventured upon any lengthened flight, these 

 boys, armed with sticks and stones, would beat on either 

 side of the hedge until poor Jenny was killed. We hope, 

 however, this practice is defunct. It may have arisen from 

 the old custom of " Hunting the Wren on Christmas 

 Day/'' once general in many parts of Ireland and Wales, if 

 not also of England, when one party would carry sticks to 

 beat the bushes, and another stones to kill the poor birds 

 as they emerged. The origin of this curious custom is 

 lost in obscurity. It has been ascribed to the anger felt 

 by the Catholic Irish at a Wren saving from surprise and 

 massacre, by tapping on a drum, a small party of worn-out 

 Protestants. But it is singular that this same legend in 

 Southern Ireland occasioned a ceremony in which a Wren 

 was carried about in honour, to the accompaniment of the 

 following ditty : 



The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, 

 Was caught St. Stephen's day in the fur/e ; 

 Although he's little, his family's great, 

 Then, pray, kind gentlefolks, give him a treat. 



Jenny or Kitty Wren, as it is also called, is one of our 

 smallest birds, and yet there is scarcely one better known. 

 This may be on account of the nursery tale of the court- 

 ship and marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren ; and 

 doubtless that same story may account for the idea which 

 is still prevalent, that the Wren is the female of the Robin. 

 In early spring attentive observers of Nature may see a 

 pair of Wrens engaged most busily in the work of nest- 

 building. This structure, which is dome-shaped, with an 

 aperture at the side, is composed of most varied materials, 

 principally twigs, roots, leaves, moss, and feathers, and is 



