722A 
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WINTER WREN. 437 
smith, I was amusing myself one afternoon with the movements of a 
pair of Water-hens, which were flirting about the edge of the tall reeds 
so abundant in that neighbourhood, when my attention was arrested 
by a Wren, carrying a straw, darting into a small hedge directly be- 
neath the window at which I stood. In a few minutes the bird reap- 
peared, and flew to a piece of old thatch which was lying near, and 
having disengaged another straw he immediately returned with it to 
the place in which the first had been deposited. For about two hours 
this operation was continued by the bird with the greatest diligence. 
He then abandoned his task, and ascending the highest twig of the 
hedge, he poured forth his sweet and merry notes, until driven away 
by some person passing near. For the remainder of the evening I saw 
no more of the little architect, but on the following morning, being 
drawn to the window by his song, I observed him leave his favourite 
perch and resume with ardour the employment of the previous day. 
During the forenoon I was not able to pay much attention to the move- 
ments of the Wren, but from an occasional glance | observed that his 
task, with the exception of a few intervals of relaxation, when his 
merry warble fell upon the ear, was plied with a degree of bustling ac- 
tivity which was worthy of the important undertaking. On examining 
his labours at the close of the second day, I observed that the exterior 
of a large spherical nest was nearly finished, and that from the old 
thatch, though exceedingly moist and black from decay, all the mate- 
rials had been obtained. By the afternoon of the ensuing day his visits 
to the thatch were discontinued, and he kept bustling and flirting about 
the spot. He seemed from his lengthened intervals of song rather to 
be exulting in the progress, than to be making any addition to the 
work. In the evening I inspected the nest, and found the exterior 
complete, and by carefully inserting my finger, I ascertained that no 
lining had yet been applied, in consequence most probably of the mois- 
ture which still remained in the straw. Returning to the spot in about 
half an hour afterwards, with one of my cousins, to look at the nest, I 
observed with no small surprise that the little bird had not only re- 
sented the intrusion by closing up the aperture, but also had opened 
another passage from the opposite side of the hedge. The aperture was 
closed with pieces of the old thatch, and the work was so neatly exe- 
cuted that no traces of the former entrance were perceptible. ‘The 
nest was altogether the work of one bird, and during the time he spent 
