THE OOLOG1ST 



159 



food. Insects and their eggs, larvae, 

 and spiders comprise his bill of fare; 

 myriopods are also taken when pro- 

 curable. I have watched these birds 

 devour a quantity of "bugs" which 

 dwell upon or near the ground. They 

 must do an enormous amount of good 

 work in destroying insect pests, even 

 though they do destroy numerous ben- 

 eficial arachnids. 



As the bright sunny days of early 

 spring shed their radiance over the 

 fields and woods these wrens repair 

 to suitable places in which to build 

 their nests. They do not seem partic- 

 ular in regard to where they shall 

 establish their abode: the sod banks 

 of roadsides; the damp rooty soil that 

 often borders streams of water; de- 

 serted corners in outbuildings; or per- 

 haps an old hat, a shoe, or some dis- 

 carded piece of clothing that has 

 been hung away in a quiet nook,— 

 each will answer the purpose of a 

 nesting site. 



The materials selected for nest 

 building consist of coarse weed stalks, 

 strips of inner tree bark, soft grass 

 blades, horse hair, and many other 

 constituents. A warmly lined domi- 

 cile is constructed and four, five, and 

 rarely six eggs are deposited therein. 

 If the repulsive Cowbird adds an egg 

 of hers the wren often discontinues 

 the laying of a full set of eggs and we 

 usually find but three or four. The 

 female sits closely upon her beauties 

 and at the lapse of twelve days the 

 callow young come into the world. 

 Now the parent birds are kept busy 

 provding their offspring with nour- 

 ishing food. The youngsters grow 

 rapidly and in a short time leave the 

 nest to seek a living for themselves 

 in the great out-of-doors. 



The Carolina Wren has always 

 been one of my favorite birds, and 

 during the past ten years I have had 

 some excellent opportunities for mak- 



ing a study of its nesting habits. 

 The first nest that I ever found was 

 built in a cavity at the top of an old- 

 fashioned fence-gate arch. The wood 

 had rotted away from the boards, mak- 

 ing an opening large enough to ad- 

 mit the wrens. To this place they 

 carried building material, constructed 

 a cozily lined nest, and deposited five 

 pretty eggs, — pure white and speck- 

 led with shades of reddish-brown. 

 This was in early May, 1902, and I had 

 not long been collecting eggs. I pre- 

 pared the specimens poorly then, and 

 of course made second class data. 



As the years passed a number of 

 wrens' nests came under my observa- 

 tion. Saturday, April 18, 1903, in com- 

 pany with a school chum, I went to 

 hunt birds' nests in a creek valley 

 some four miles from home. Towards 

 noon as we tramped up a road which 

 led through a ravine away from the 

 valley, I spied a ball of green moss, 

 tucked away in among the overhang- 

 ing sod, at the roadside bank. Glanc- 

 ing in I could see five beautiful fresh 

 eggs, resting on a lining of red cow's 

 hair and pieces of snake skin. The 

 bird was not at home, nor did she ap- 

 pear while we were in that vicinity. 



Some days later I found another 

 nest of the Carolina Wren in over- 

 hanging roots. The bank in which 

 the nest was situated was only a few 

 feet from a railroad track, and lay at 

 the base of a steep wooded hillside. 

 At this time the nest held two fresh 

 eggs. Upon returning to it a few days 

 later — April 27 — I found the female 

 peacefully sitting upon five pretty 

 eggs, more heavily speckled than 

 those of the preceding set. The nest 

 was a large ball of green moss (Poly- 

 trichium commune) mixed with grass 

 and leaves, and lined with hair. 



On May 22, 1903, some boys who had 

 been playing ball in a field adjoining 

 town reported to me that they had 



