178 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



After a day or two of the wren's singular un- 

 easiness, we discovered at least one object of his 

 concern. It was a chipmunk, whom we had often 

 noticed perched on the highest point of the lit- 

 tle ledge of rocks near the nest. He seemed to 

 be attending strictly to his own affairs, but after 

 a good deal of " dear-r-r " ing, the wren flew 

 furiously at him, almost, if not quite, hitting 

 him, and doing it again and again. The little 

 beast did not relish this treatment and ran off, 

 the bird following and repeating the assault. 

 This was undoubtedly the foe that he had been 

 troubled about all the time. 



On the tenth or eleventh day of their lives 

 (as I believe) I examined the babies in the 

 nest a little more closely than before. I even 

 touched them with my finger on head and beak. 

 They looked sleepily at me, but did not resent 

 it. If the mother were somewhat bigger, I 

 should suspect her of giving them " soothing 

 syrup," for they had exactly the appearance of 

 being drugged. They were not overfed ; I never 

 saw youngsters so much let alone. The parents 

 had nothing like the work of the robin, oriole, 

 or blue jay. They came two or three times, 

 and then left for half an hour or more, yet the 

 younglings were never impatient for food. 



The morning that the young wrens had 

 reached the age of twelve days (that we knew 



