TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 89' 



feathers on which the female lays 

 four to six small eggs of light 

 reddish brown and speckled color. 

 The photo herein shows how a 

 number of these mud nests were 

 plastered against a steep rock wall 

 in a hanging position, the entrance 

 opening being located at the nar7 

 row neck part of the cylindrically 

 formed nest. 



These cliff swallows, as all others, 

 being insectivorous, are very useful 

 creatures as they destroy large 

 numbers of various dipterous insects 

 during their flighty rambles along 

 the rivulets — or around barns and 

 houses — if there located; and their 



nests and young brood should by 

 all means be protected. Often, 

 in touring places where such and 

 other types of swallows prepare 

 their nests, these are seen wantonly 

 batter.ed up with rocks or broken 

 to pieces by some ignorant vandals: 

 who find delight in destroying 

 such as well as other nests — merely 

 to amuse themselves! Had such 

 vandals received stricter lessons 

 from their parents and better 

 nature studies from their teachers 

 our feathery tribe would not, 

 as in late years, be so near extinc- 

 tion! 



A Rare Forest Wren and its Nest 



The prairie plains, hilly regions, 

 forests, river bottpm, jiastvires and 

 parks around San Antonio harbor 

 great numbers of various wren 

 s-poeJes, svich as our common house- 

 wren, the cactus wren, the rock 

 and canyon wren, the winter or 

 f irest wren. +he Carolina wrpn and 

 a number of others, and the pur- 

 pose of the following-notes is not 

 to dwell on these, as their life 

 history is quite well known, but 

 rather I wish to call attention to 

 an interesting' and rare wren, and 

 its nest encountered lately in a 

 cavity or hole in the ground along 

 the river bank, nine miles below' 

 San Antonio, in a sloping embank- 

 ment and close to a sparklin<]; 

 spring surrounded by forest trees, 

 rampant vines, ferns and other 

 luxuriant forest vegetation. 



The nest was accidentally de- 

 tected by an outing party about a 

 mile off from wlfere we had 

 pitched our camp along some old 

 shady monarchs of the river bot- 

 tom, and as my friend knew I was 

 at the time that, I was interested 

 in most of our interesting 

 nests of the feathery tribe, we 

 strolled back through the river 

 bottom to near the small spring, 



and there it was, a very small 

 wren species, snugly sheltered and 

 peeping out of its nest hotel. 



We approached very cautiously 

 but the lively little fellow, like ai 

 shot, suddenly flew in a straight 

 line to the nearest bush close to 

 the spring where it hopped and 

 flew restlessly from tree to tree, 

 accompanied by its mate, and chir- 

 ping in an excited manner. 



Both these wren birds were very 

 small, hardly three inches in 

 length, and of a reddish-brown 

 cinnamon color with long vvhite 

 stripe along the upper and lower 

 eye ridge. 



After its escape from the nest 

 it was shown that the nesf'cavity 

 contained five egrgs, and rather 

 lar^e eggs (for the small size of its 

 host) of oval shape and slightly 

 speckled, reddish-brown spots 

 covering the else snow-white egg- 

 shell. 



An endeavor to photoaraph the 

 subterranean nest and its contents 

 of five eggs was not quite success- 

 ful as no artificial light was at 

 hand to expose the nest interior 

 better, and ns it also was rather 

 late in the evening to make a ulear 

 vipw. This happened on June 10th. 

 1912, when the nest was found, and 



