30 TEOGLODYTIDJE THEYOTHOEUS LUDOVICIANUS. 



Other, very likely mocking us with its rollicking song as soon as it feels 

 l)erfectly secure. It shares, however, the restlessness and prying curi- 

 osity of its tribe; and if we keep still in a favorable spot we may often 

 see it returning slyly to take a look af us, peering from among the leaves 

 with an inquisitive air, all the while "teetering" its body, and perform- 

 ing odd, uerv^ous antics, as if it were possessed with the very spirit of un- 

 rest. At such times it chatters in a harsh querulous tone, as if resenting 

 the intrusion ; and this is its ordinary note when angry, alarmed, or oth- 

 erwise disturbed in mind. Its song is quite another thing — loud, clear, 

 strong, and highly musical; indeed I hardly know what bird possesses 

 a richer voice, though many are sweeter songsters. The son-g is a rapid 

 si]ccession of whistling notes, delivered with great energy and accent; 

 it closely resembles that of the Cardinal Grosbeak, styled in some parts 

 the "Virginia Nightingale," and meriting the compliment. In still 

 weather the Wren can be heard several hundred yards, but is not easy 

 to trace the music up to its source, because the resonant quality of the 

 notes makes the whole copse seem to ring with the sound, and because 

 the restless songster is constantly changing his position. 



This ATren is a very early breeder. In the Oarolinas it mates in 

 March, nests in April, and the first of its two or three broods are abroad 

 early in May, if not still sooner. Mr. Allen found the young flying at 

 this time even in Kansas. The bird is so capricious in the matter of a 

 nesting place, that we can hardly say what its preference is, if, indeed, 

 it have any choice. It will build in any odd nook or cranny that it fan- 

 cies — entering an out-house through a knot-hole or a chink between 

 loose boards, like the House Wren ; taking the hollow of a tree or 

 stump; settling in the midst of a thick bush; anywhere, in fact, that 

 offers a snug retreat. In Florida, Mr. Maynard says, they like to nest 

 in the palmettoes; and this agreeable writer tells how convenient such 

 resorts are: "The 'boot,'" he explains, "is the base of the dead leaf- 

 stalks which adhere to the tree after the top has decayed and fallen off; 

 they are quite broad, slightly concave, and extend upward in an oblique 

 direction, leaving a space between them and the trunk ; the fronds, in 

 falling, often cover the top with a fibrous debris, which is impervious to 

 water, and the cavities beneath form a snug nesting place for the Caro- 

 lina Wrens." Into some such place as we have seen, the Wren puts a 

 great quantity of fibrous, leafy, or grassy ma4)erial, not being at all par- 

 ticular, but gathering any trash that it finds convenient ; and builds a 

 rather bulky nest, more or less like a ball, with a side-entrance. This is 

 freighted with five or six eggs, and very completely filled before the little 

 ones leave it. The eggs are white, dotted very thickly and ijretty evenly 

 with reddish brown and various neutral tints, generally quite over the 

 surface, but sometimes chiefly wreathing around the large end ; some- 

 times the surface is so thickly covered that the ground is almost hidden. 

 But I have never seen any eggs so uniformly dark as those of the Marsh 

 Wren, or even the House Wren, usually are. Several measurements I 

 took ranged from 0.76 by 0.61 to 0.70 by 0.58, averaging about 0.73 by 

 0.60. The birds are very private about their domestic arrangements, 

 and generally slip off quietly if they have an unwelcome caller. They 

 keep the young ones about them for a few days after they leave the nest, 

 and during this period they are in a state of perpetual panic, showing 

 their intense worry in redoubled restlessness. But the little family is 

 soon dispersed, let us hope, each to a merry life ; the parents take a little 

 relaxation from family cares, and then arrange for a new household. 



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