126 AMERIOAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



ed tlie houses almost entirely, and "took to the woods" in a literal sense. 

 April of 1903 found nie in Northern Indiana for a brief stay. In the vil- 

 lage of Middlebury I was surprised to hear the dulcet air of Bewick's wren 

 — surprised because I did not suppose he ever went so far north. When I 

 went over to the city of Elkhart — fourteen miles from Middlebury — I miss- 

 ed Bewick's wren altogether, and listened to the gurgling song of the house- 

 wren, and that a block or two in from the suburbs. Why this difference is 

 wren preferences in the two places ? 



You will be interested in knowing about the wren status here in Eastern 

 Ohio, while I have taken off my hat for a while and am at home among the 

 birds. Here everything is different, wren-wise. I have never seen or heard 

 Bewick's wren in this part of the state, and only once have I heard the song 

 of the house-wren. This was in New Philadelphia. But the Carolina wren 

 is here, and here in sufficient numbers to satisfy the most exacting student 

 of his habits. 



Having the whole country to himself, so far as wrens are concerned, the 

 Carolina's manners differ here from his ways in every other place I have 

 ever known him. Here he is the house-wren, and the only house wren we 

 have. He likes human society. A country home where there is an old barn 

 or other old building fills his palpitating heart with delight; and he does not 

 fight shy of the town, either, but blows his Huon's horn as unafraid as if no 

 "humans" were near, builds his nests in all sorts of pockets and crevices, 

 and rears the little wrens in the way such prettj^ little children ought to go. 



It is useless to ask why the Carolinas are house wrens here and woodland 

 birds in other parts of the country. However, you will also find these wrens 

 in solitary places about here, often in the depths of the woods, or in the se- 

 quested hollows, or on the bush}^ hillsides. Wherever he is found he is the 

 same cheery, clear-voiced little body. Do you ask why some Carolinas pre- 

 fer town while others prefer the country? You might as well ask why peo- 

 ple differ in the same way. Nature is wise and provident, knowing that 

 these insect-eating birds are needed both in the city and the country; also 

 aboift country homes and in the sylvan depths. 



I used to give the palm for constancy in singing to the song sparrow, but 

 I must take the honors from him and give them to the Carolina wren, for 

 all through the severe winter of 1903-04, the song sparrows were silent, while 

 my hardy wren regaled us with song on many a day. A friend heard a Car- 

 olina sing on the morning of our coldest dajj- — January 4th — when the 

 mercury in our thermometers registered from twenty to twenty-five degrees 

 below zero. Why, Carolina is a regular Viking. All through the spring, 

 summer and autumn I listened to his songs, and when winter set in, he kept 

 up his rehearsals, so that I have heard him singing every month of the year. 



