The Friendly House Wrens 



BY WILBUR F. SMITH 



Photographs by the author 



I 



"^ T must have been away back 

 in the days before the white 

 man's advent that Sir Christo- 

 pher and Jenny Wren left their 

 ancestral home in the hollow of 

 the tree, to begin their intimate 

 acquaintance with man and to 

 build their nests near his abode. 

 Audubon, in his day, found that 

 the little House Wrens had already 

 intrenched themselves near to man, 

 and he calls them "homey little 

 birds," picturing them as nesting 

 in an old, discarded hat. 



Though we long for the return 

 of the Bluebird and rush to the 

 window^ to see the first Robin on 

 the lawn, neither they nor any 

 of the birds can quite take the 

 place of the chattering, scolding 

 Wrens, who have returned from 

 their winter's holiday in the Southland, to build again in the little box-house 

 on the end of the grape-arbor or under the eaves of the wood-shed. For the 

 next three months they will fill the garden with song, and proclaim that they 

 are "at home" by taking an interest in the up-keep of the place, working 

 among the currant bushes and around the grape-vine, cleaning insects and 

 larvae from the fences, watching every nook and corner of the wood-pile and 

 cow-shed, and cleaning spiders' nests from under the siding of "the big house" 

 to build into their nest. Showing that they are above taking toll for their 

 services, they refuse even to sample the strawberries and cherries. They 

 proclaim their family rights by scolding the cat, and sometimes the dog, 

 and sit on their front porch and sing as you hoe the beans almost under their 

 very home. Indeed, they are as much a part of the spring life of the place 

 as the family dog or the children's pet bantam chickens. 



Toward the last of April, or the first of May, they return on the wangs of 

 the night, and their jolly, chattering song floats in at the open window to 

 greet our first awakening moment! With a little imagination we can interpret 

 their song as, — "Hello! I'm real glad to get back home again. How are all 

 the folks? Well, I must go and see what has to be done to the old nest." By 



(135) 



THEIR CURIOSITY CAUSED II11..M UJ 

 EXAMINE MY CAMERA 



