THE WREN. 35 



placed in equally varied positions. We have found them 

 against the trunk of a tree, under the thatch of a building, 

 in the forks of a cabbage run to seed, and even over- 

 hanging the variable waters of a stream ; another favourite 

 position is the aperture occasioned by the loss of a brick 

 from an arch under a country roadway, where the grass 

 and weeds grow around, and partially conceal the position 

 of the nest. The position and its surroundings greatly in- 

 fluence the materials of which the nest is composed, as the 

 birds labour that it may as nearly as possible resemble 

 the appearance of its site. The Wren, although such a 

 small bird, builds her nest of heavy material, so that it is 

 matter for surprise how she contrives to transfer it to its 

 place. Notwithstanding, she is extremely capricious, 

 and will often make two or three nests before one is settled 

 to her satisfaction ; when, however, this is consummated, 

 from six to eight white eggs, speckled with a few red 

 spots, and about the size of a bean or large cherry-stone, are 

 laid in the feather-lined nest, and the hen sits upon them 

 for about ten days, being partially fed by the male bird 

 meanwhile. The young are fed by the parent birds upon 

 insects, flies, larvae, and small worms, until they leave the 

 nest and become self-supporting. The parent birds then 

 commence a new nest, producing two broods a year. 



The Wren may be found all over England and in 

 Scotland. and Ireland, whilst, as one of its classified names 

 denotes, it is also a general inhabitant of Europe. The 

 plumage is composed of different shades of brown, barred 

 with darker brown, and some naturalists aver that the 

 female is of a redder hue than the male ; but the difference 

 is very difficult to determine. 



Too much praise can scarcely be awarded to the song 



