7 
which I quite agree with him, as I have, on several occasions, found nests contrasting visibly 
with the place where they were built. Mr. Harting (Birds of Middlesex, p. 114) records a 
peculiar nest of this species found by him, and writes as follows:—“ A pair of Wrens built their 
nest on an old stump, and hatched their young. Finding themselves undisturbed, they resorted 
to the same place the following year, where they found their old nest. Instead of repairing it, 
however, and using it again, they built another on the top of it, and had thus a ‘storied’ house. 
The ‘ ground-floor,’ however, was only visited occasionally ; for the little family was brought up in 
the ‘first-floor’ room.” As I mentioned above, the Wren appears often to build by preference in 
the neighbourhood of human habitations; and an interesting instance of this is recorded by 
Mr. W. H. Trinthammer, who states (J. f. O. 1862, p. 223) that some pitch-burners near Hanau 
had a small hut, which was frequently removed, as they changed their locality for the purpose 
of work. Seeing a Wren slip into a hole in the roof, when once on a visit to the workmen’s 
hut, he made inquiries and ascertained that a pair of Wrens had for years built in the roof of 
the hut, following it whenever it was removed. 
It is well known that the Wren has a peculiar habit of building nests which are not used 
for the purposes of incubation. These nests, being by the country-folks supposed to serve the 
male bird as a sleeping apartment, are commonly called “ cocks’ nests;” but it does not appear 
that any one has been able satisfactorily to show for what purpose they are constructed. My 
own opinion certainly is that they are intended as houses of refuge during cold or inclement 
weather; and this opinion is shared by many other naturalists. ‘The Wren appears to be sus- 
ceptible of cold; and during the winter-season, when the nights are very raw, an entire family 
will creep into a convenient hole, and by huddling close together retain as much heat as possible. 
As a boy I often watched them enter a hole in the thatch of an old barn near our house, and 
have frequently caught them there after dark ; but in spite of being disturbed they never forsook 
their favourite hole. 
The song of the male Wren is clear and sweet, and remarkably loud for so small a bird. 
It is uttered both when the bird is sitting and when taking a short flight. Its call-note is a 
peculiar churring sound. It sings not only during the summer, but at almost every season of 
the year. 
It feeds on small insects of various sorts, larve, and pupe. Macgillivray, on the authority 
of Mr. Neville Wood, says that its stomach has been found to contain hard seeds, and that it 
sometimes eats red currants. 
A most peculiar custom exists in Ireland, and not only there but, according to Sonnini, also 
in Southern France, of hunting the Wren on a particular day (in Ireland on Christmas day), and 
afterwards carrying the defunct bird about in procession. Thompson (B. of Ireland, i. p. 346) 
writes as follows respecting this custom :—“To hunt the Wren is a favourite pastime of the 
peasantry of Kerry on Christmas day. ‘This they do, each using two sticks, one to beat the 
bushes, the other to fling at the bird. It was the boast of an old man who lately died at the 
age of 100, that he had hunted the Wren for the last eighty years on Christmas day. On 
St. Stephen’s day the children exhibit the slaughtered birds on an ivy bush decked with ribbons 
of various colours, and carry them about, singing the well-known song commencing ‘The Wren, 
the Wren, the king of all birds,’ &c., and thus collect money.” In a footnote he further writes 
On 
