How the Tule Wrens Acquired Summer Quarters 15 



over the marsh. They were built usually in the upper third 

 of the cattails or loosestrife, and in places where two or three 

 strong upright stalks were close enough to permit lacing them 

 together to make a substantial framework. They never ap- 

 peared too securely fastened, but in the many years I in- 

 spected the marsh I never saw a wren nest out of place unless 

 the whole plant structure to which it was attached had been 

 undermined and brought low by storm. The nests were about 

 the size and shape of a coconut, with cattails as the main ma- 

 terial, lined with finer fiber and cattail down, and with a 

 small entrance in the side, usually near the top. They were 

 rather elaborate affairs for so small a bird to build, and I had 

 always thought the weaving must have required much poking 

 and pulling and careful work. It was two years ago that the 

 sight of actual building changed my mind. In this case I saw 

 one of the birds fly to a nest with one end of a long, narrow 

 strip of cattail in its bill. It did not hesitate but moved in and 

 out of the supports as a child might dance through shrubs 

 with a string or ribbon in its hands. In a fraction of a minute 

 it had placed the piece securely and had flown away for 

 more material. I found much difficulty in watching them 

 build for any length of time, for though they at first paid no 

 attention they became increasingly uneasy if I remained and 

 soon stopped work altogether. Some of the nests blended so 

 completely with the surroundings that the casual canoeist 

 would never see them, but a few, fashioned out of materials 

 bleached by the weather, were almost creamy tan and could 

 be seen from some distance. 



When more wren nests appeared close to the original, it 

 did not mean, as one might think, that the birds had waived 

 their territorial rights. One nest would be the real one, and 

 the others were dummies, built by the same pair. Whether 

 this was done to confuse predators, or to satisfy the building 

 urge of the birds, or in the hope that additional females might 

 be attracted, I never discovered, although any of the reasons 



