228 MAKING OF A FLOWER GARDEN 



fateful summer a poor little wren, who had, in some 

 tragic way, lost his mate, after days of mourning 

 and calling for her, made an alliance with a little 

 hen-sparrow and set up housekeeping in a box under 

 the eaves and I was much surprised the following 

 fall to hear some unmistakable wren notes issuing 

 from the throat of an undersized little cock-sparrow. 

 On examiuing the nest it was curious to observe how 

 the traditions and instincts of each class of birds had 

 been adhered to in its construction, the feathers so 

 dear to the heart of a sparrow, and the evergreen 

 twigs, without which no wren considers its nest com- 

 plete, being about equally evident, and the crowning 

 touch of a wren's nest — spider eggs, with which he 

 always decorates his nest — ^were much in evidence. 



If one wishes to attract birds to build about the 

 lawns and buildiags it will be well to know first the 

 habits of the different birds; which are terrestrial, 

 building in trees and those that are given to nesting 

 in boxes, on brackets and in buildings. It is also 

 well to consider those that build in brush heaps, as 

 the brown thrush, or thrasher, as it is commonly 

 called ; those preferring brambles, as the cat bird, and 

 indigo bunting, which much affect the blackberry 

 bushes; and those choosing ledges in porch and out 

 buildings, as, for example, the phoebe. One pair of 

 phoebes have had a nest on a stringer in the woodshed 

 where I am constantly going in and out. Last year 



