Must Wrens Be Taught Nest-Building? 
By CRAIG S. THOMS, Vermilion, S. D. 
HE male Wren speedily discovered the Wren-house that I placed on 
top of a slender seven-foot stump for him, and for a week he had been 
bubbling over with song, in perfect confidence that a little lady in 
brown would soon come to share his joys. He did not know that I made the 
Wren-house face my study-window so that I could observe his every movement, 
and discover in 
his mate, if pos- [i 
sible, any lack of 
efficiency in the 
management of 
household affairs, 
—but I did. 
When he got 
out of breath sing- 
ing, which  sel- 
dom occurred, he 
would carry a 
twig into the 
house just to rest 
himself. And in 
this twig-carry- 
ing business he 
was a past mas- 
ter. Up he would 
come with a large 
twig, balancing 
it squarely in 
the middle; but 
the moment he 
reached the little 
round door, he “SOMETIMES SHE WOULD FIND HERSELF ON THE WRONG 
deftly slipped his SIDE OF THE TWIG” 
bill to one end, inserted that end in the hole, and crowded himself in with it. 
In the coming of the little lady in brown, his expectation was soon realized; 
but she was evidently a bird of the first year, without experience, either in 
match-making or nest-building. In regard to the former, she was unusually 
shy, doubtful, and hesitant. In regard to the latter, when things were finally 
settled between the two, and nest-building began in earnest, her inexperience 
was apparent. She had all the courage and enthusiasm characteristic of a 
first home-builder, as was shown by the large twigs which she unhesitatingly 
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