The Story of Two House Wrens 



By LIDIAN E. BRIDGE 



FOR the past live years, we have been the happy hosts of a pair of House 

 Wrens, which have been the deUght of our summer. 



This year, we had such a singular experience that I thought other 

 bird-lovers might be interested, so I took some notes. 



The male bird arrived on April 28, and began at once to fill with sticks 

 the gourd in which two broods had been successfully raised each year for 

 the last four. He sang constantly, but, owing to cold weather or some unknown 

 cause, no mate appeared until May 9, when housekeeping began in earnest, 

 the female lining the nest, which is all the work I had ever seen her do during 

 four years' careful observation. As the gourd was hung from a tree, over an 

 old stone wall, close to our piazza, we had excellent opportunities to observe. 

 On June 4 the little Wrens were hatched, and were fed every few moments 

 by one or other parent, never by both. 



Meantime, I had noticed that the male, who had built another nest in 

 a bird-house, always spent the night and the greater part of each day in or 

 around that house; but I suspected nothing until June 24, when I found both 

 birds feeding young there. 



I do not know w^hen those eggs were laid nor when they were hatched, but, 

 after that date, both nests were carefully watched, and so far as I could see, 

 at no time did the male bird feed the young in the gourd, but both birds fed 

 the little ones in the bird-house. 



On June 28, five little Wrens left the gourd, but remained in the bushes 

 for a week. On July 6, four little Wrens, which I had first noticed being fed 

 on June 24, left the bird-house, and were fed in the bushes until July 14, 

 chiefly by the female. On July 9, the male worked hard all day, clearing 

 out the lining of the gourd-nest, while the female still fed the young in the 

 bushes This continued until July 14, when the female began repairing the 

 nest with fibers from a clematis stalk, while the male sang in the tree. 

 Later he carried in spiders' webs for lining. On July 19, the female began 

 to sit, and the young were hatched some time between August 5 and 

 August 9, when, on my return from Nantucket, I found both birds busy 

 feeding the young. 



The female bird disappeared after a few days, falling a victim, I fear, to 

 a neighbor's cat, and on August 16 no male appeared, and the little birds cried 

 all day, so that, late in the afternoon, we decided to take them in and try to 

 feed them on meal worms and spiders. They refused to eat anything, so, hoping 

 to save their lives, as they were well-grown and could fly about the room, 

 we carried the five little Wrens to a safe spot in the Middlesex Fells, where 

 there was an abundant food supply, and trusted that they could feed them- 



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