384 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



voting his energies to, preventing the building of their nest, he would 

 make a fierce dash at the Wren every time he commenced a song. The 

 Wren seemed to greatly enjoy this, regarding it as bird play, and with 

 a break in his song would dodge his adversary and continue his vocal 

 efforts more energetically from his next perch; meanwhile, the female 

 Wren was as busy as she could be, carrying into the hole load after 

 load of dried grasses, feathers, hair and twigs. She was so industrious 

 that she very nearly if not wholly completed the nest the first day. 



This Downies nest, being situated so low down (only five feet from 

 the ground), we were very desirous of doing nothing that might cause 

 them to leave, for we had especially been looking for the nest of these 



Photo from life by C. A. ReeJ. 



COMING OUT. 



birds and this one was in an ideal location for photographic purposes, 

 consequently we did not look into it or attempt to take any pictures un- 

 til the eggs had hatched, although one of us visited the locality nearly 

 every day to see what progress the two contestants were making in 

 their warfare. The Downy never overcame his dislike for the Wren, 



