Further Notes on the Bhie Wren. 235


admirably for ordinary purposes ; but for nesting in and building

sleeping nests, chiefly of hay, they preferred the many-stalked

half dead and almost leafless stems of some rather old Virginia

creepers, of course specially trained and arranged for the birds.


Owing to the predilection of Blue Wrens for scuttling along

the ground into holes and corners, it is easy to catch them in

suitably constructed box-traps, and thus to transfer them from

aviary to winter quarters and back again, backwards and forwards,

without touching a feather.


In a well wooded garden aviary, Blue Wrens can mostly

support themselves, especially in warm weather, on the tiniest of

tiny insect life, which they search for not solely on the ground

by any means but also freely amongst the stems and leaves of

growing trees and shrubs, doing naught but good, for I have

never seen them touch the leaf-buds. In the house the plainest

of insectivorous food will suffice, but egg-flake must form one of

the principal ingredients according to my experience, supple¬

mented by any tiny insect life and spiders that may be obtainable.


The one great danger to be guarded against is— Fresh

Air ! ! ! Say what you like, with delicate birds, Fresh air kills,

while a stuffy atmosphere, objectionable though it be, need not

do so, nor need it sow the seeds of disease or impair the health.

With some species warmth is a necessity, and stands in import¬

ance before everything else. I never fail to lose a good bird if I

neglect warmth.


If our learned friends would direct their rather wasted

energies towards finding out some practical means of keeping a

private living room warm, night and day, without smoking the

curtains, ceiling and wall paper, they would indeed be conferring

a boon and a blessing on men who, like myself, are obliged to

keep a few of their frailer pets in their dining-room during the

cold season. It was disgust at the state of the room that caused

the death of the Blue Wren: a smoky paraffin stove or two

during the night of March 21—22 would have saved him.


Given warmth and intelligent care, there is no real diffi¬

culty in keeping the Blue Wren.



