Plate L. 



TROGLODYTES AEDON-House Wren. 



The House Wren arrives in the vicinity of Columbus about the middle of April, and remains until 

 October. It is very prolific, generally rearing two, and often three, broods during the season. The first 

 nest is constructed early in May, the second in Jane or July, and the third in August. 



LOCALITY : 



The House Wren frequents out-houses and dwellings in town and country, and may place its nest 

 in any sheltered cranny. Occasionally, it retires to the woods or field, considerable distance from a 

 dwelling, and builds in the hollow of a log, stump, or limb, or in a fence corner, brush-heap, or some 

 such place; but it is fond of human society, and quite generally takes advantage of the protection which 

 the. works and presence of man afford. Curious and unexpected situations are sometimes chosen for the 

 nest, such as an old human skull, a buggy-top, a bee-hive, an old boot or hat, the sleeve or pocket of a 

 coat — in fact, none of the hundreds of places which the rubbish about a house offers escapes the inquisi- 

 tive search of this delightful little bird when on the lookout for a building site. Corners and holes in 

 old barns and wood-sheds, hollows in old apple trees, and small boxes, made for the purpose and placed 

 on poles or nailed under the eaves of houses, furnish the most frequented nesting places. 



POSITION: 



The nest rests upon the bottom of the chosen cavity, and often fits snugly against the sides. Its 

 distance from the ground varies from a few inches to twenty or thirty feet. When a natural cavity in a 

 tree is selected, it is seldom but a few feet from the ground. 



MATERIALS: 



Sticks, weed-stems, strings, horse-hairs, bits of paper, rags, feathers, grass, moss, and rootlets, in 

 various proportions, constitute the greater part of the nest. The rougher materials arc in the foundation 

 and superstructure, the finer in the lining. One nest in my cabinet has a foundation and superstructure 

 of small sticks, and a lining of grass and horse-hair. One has, in its foundation and superstructure, be- 

 sides sticks, moss, bark, leaves, and lichens. Another has, besides the materials just mentioned, paper, 

 rags, and spider's web. The lining of the last two nests is very similar, being composed almost entirely 

 of an abundance of chicken-feathers, held in place by a few horse-hairs. The diameter of the cavity 

 is the same, about two inches, in each of the three nests. The depth of cavity in each measures, 

 respectively, one and three-quarters, two, and two and one-eighth inches. A nest from Columbus meas- 

 ures but one and one-half inches in depth of cavity. The external dimensions vary with situation. The 

 birds always fill the cavity as completely as possible, whether it is a half-bushel basket or a three-inch 

 mortise hole. The cavity of the nest generally opens from above ; but sometimes the materials of 

 construction are piled up the sides so as to nearly roof it over. 



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