THE OOLOGIST 



183 



ion which makes several nests and yet 

 which occupies but one of them with its 

 eggs and young. There are widely sep- 

 arated groups of birds, as the rails and 

 wrens which are given to this hahit^ 

 while the peculiarity is observable to a 

 lesser degree in the case of a few other 

 species from these two families. 



These extra nests are called "cock's 

 nests" in England where the habit has 

 also been observed, as the custom is 

 supposed to be followed by the cock- 

 bird while the hen is setting But this 

 is by no means always seen in America, 

 as I have repeatedly seen both birds en- 

 gaged in nest building at the same time; 

 sometimes on the same nest and again 

 on adjacent structures. I have seen ov- 

 er a dozen nests in a group, and all 

 const! ucted by the same pair of Long- 

 billed Marsh Wrens, and yet not one 

 contained an egg. It is a very common 

 thing to see a pair of House Wrens sue. 

 cessively inspect two or three nests of 

 their own collection of partially or fully 

 built homes. These active little mid- 

 gets are the most pronounced busy-bod- 

 ies that it is popsible to find among our 

 feathered friends, and they are on a 

 move all the time. I have seen them 

 fill five cavities with sticks and other 

 nest material, near our house and most 

 of the nests all ready for the eggs, be- 

 fore depositing an egg, and then occu- 

 pying the least likely location of the lot. 

 It is not unfair to say that if there were 

 a dozen cavities in the neighborhood, 

 all would be tilled by these restless ex- 

 pansionists in theirendeavors to enlarge 

 their possessions. One of the queerest 

 features in this curious custom, is that 

 the pugnacious wrens will defend the 

 unoccupied nests from the visitations 

 and encroachments of other birds, and 

 even after the female wren is sitting in 

 the selected cavity, for so persistent are 

 the real estate owners that they will 

 harbor no interference from other birds 

 of the neighborhood. It not infre- 

 quently happens that the wren success- 



fully defends -the cavities from the en- 

 croachments of the pertinacious im- 

 ported sparrow, though if the sparrows 

 once get into the hole it is a sure -thing 

 that the prei'uipters will rear a brood 

 in the cavity. 



The Long- billed Marsh Wren con- 

 structs its nest among the long rank 

 marsh grass and rushes and in most 

 cases over the water at the edges of 

 lakes and ponds, and these nests are 

 composed entirely of green grass and 

 built in the form of a cocanut. These 

 oddly situated homes are found in num- 

 bers among the cattails in suitable 

 quarters in the months of nesting and 

 are very interesting to study, though 

 but few observers have the enthusiasm 

 to wade about in the ooze and water. 

 It frequently happens that a group of a 

 dozen nests are found within a space of 

 no more than a few rods, and only one 

 home in the lot contains eggs, and I 

 have seen and examined over twenty 

 nests made by one pair of birds, but 

 one nest being occupied, and that one 

 not the best looking one by any means; 

 for it often occurs that the pair selects 

 an old last year's nest for the eggs, 

 while the new fresh ones are apparent- 

 ly constructed for the pleasure of build- 

 ing, or for some purpose that we can- 

 not understand. It is quite possible 

 that these extra nests are build by the 

 birds with a view of deceiving prospec- 

 tive spoliators. 



On one occasion we found over sixty 

 nests in a marsh, and all made by the 

 six or seven pairs of little wrens that 

 were chattering in the grass or swaying 

 on the rushes, and as if trying to de- 

 ceive us the midgets would often fly in- 

 to the mock-nests, but they all kept 

 from the nests which held the eggs 

 while we were present. 



M. GiBBS. 



