AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



129 



Photo by H. K. Murray. 

 Nest and Eggs of Carolina Wren; Built on a Window Sill. 



turn in a minute with a delicious morsel for the nestlings. After a moment's 

 rest he would be on his roof perch again, and this time, perhaps, the song 

 would be "sweetliard, sweetliard" with the rising inflection. Nearly every- 

 day I would think I heard a new bird song; only to find on investigation 

 that the Carolina wren was the singer. 



Woe be to any bird which approached his nest after the birdies came ! He 

 was there like a flash, scolding in characteristic wren-fashion, for his temper 

 is very short indeed. Even a brown thrush, as large as he is, had to fly be- 

 fore the furious attack of the wren. 



One day the wrens were seen carrying grass and straws to their nest. 

 Knowing of the little birds, I thought they could not be building a new nest, 

 and I was curious to know what they could be doing with this material. Pro- 

 curing a ladder, I climbed to the nest amid the serious and oft repeated pro- 

 tests of the owners. I found that the young birds, five in number, were 

 getting to be too large for the nest, and so the old birds were building a sec- 



