A Successful Failure 203 



of the young^Wrens and their departure from the nest with the similar time re- 

 quired in the rearing of a brood of Hermit Thrushes, studied by me the pre- 

 ceding year in northern Michigan. As the Hermit Thrush is strictly a ground- 

 nesting bird, the dangers to its young must be far greater than the dangers 

 met by immature House Wrens, which are raised under cover and off the ground. 

 Consequently, it is not surprising that nature should have had the young Thrushes 

 ready to leave their nest ten days after hatching, and should have kept the young 

 Wrens in their box for sixteen days. The difference in the relative development 

 of the two broods, upon deserting their nests, was very marked. The young 

 Hermits could scarcely fly at all, and depended upon the thick underbrush for 

 protection; whereas, all the young Wrens, except one weakling, could fly a num- 



THE WORLD BEFORE HIM 



ber of yards from the first, while, on the day after their departure, they apparently 

 could fly at will, and in general appearance and actions differed but little from 

 their parents. Thus, these Wrens were much better equipped than the Thrushes 

 for the struggle for existence. 



Throughout the nesting period, and for several days thereafter, I carefully 

 watched the relation between the Wren family and the multitudinous English 

 Sparrows that were ever present. The Sparrows bothered the parent Wrens 

 by constantly dogging their every footstep, or perhaps I should say wing-beat. 

 Upon one occasion, a Sparrow grabbed the female Wren by the tail, just as the 

 Wren darted into her box, with its sparrow-proof hole. Although I have an 

 intense hatred for the EngHsh Sparrow, yet I must give the devil his due, and say 

 that I never saw a Sparrow offer to injure a young Wren. The former followed 



