22 THE GREAT CAROLINA WREN. 



ably hunting for food. They would disappear under the foliage, but in 

 half a minute were out again, peering around to see that no danger was 

 near. This incessant vigilance is very characteristic of all birds whose 

 way of living brings them close to the ground, where enemies are liable 

 to be lurking. No matter how quiet and safe all appears, they stop 

 work every few seconds to stretch up their heads and gaze anxiously 

 around them, flirting their tails and half lifting their wings as though 

 ready to take instant flight. This constant half-decided terror influences 

 their whole lives, and the cat which catches a bird must be stealthy and 

 quick, — hence of course they are so. 



Another busy and garrulous little group at the junction was formed 

 by a pair of great Carolina wrens, a bird that unfortunately the Northern 

 States cannot count on their lists, except as a rare stranger. In the mid- 

 dle districts, however, it is an annual visitor, if not a permanent resident, 

 for as far north as central New Jersey and southern Ohio they not only 

 breed every summer, but remain through the coldest winters. 



About the vocal powers of this wren much has been said and written. 

 That little fellow to which I listened on the occasion I am speaking of 

 trilled a song all his own — a loud, rollicking warble, not at all like the 

 exclamatory roundelay of his neighbor the sparrow, which was full of 

 Polish Tests, utterly unpronounceable without a twist and snap of the 

 voice that nothing less slender than a, bird's tongue or a whip-lash could 

 hope to produce. But in addition to this music of his own composition, 

 he is credited with powers of vocal mimicry — with being an accomplished 

 and tireless imitator of woodland melodies, and is more often called the 

 mocking wren than by any other name. 



In the elaborate " History of North American Birds" — which ought 

 to have filled " a great want," but failed to do so, apart from its technical 

 half — the late Dr. T. M. Brewer makes this statement in respect to the 

 Carolina wren : " This species possesses a great variety and power of song. 

 It is also said to have and to exhibit remarkable powers of imitation, 

 with a great variety in its appropriated notes of other birds, giving, with 

 modulations, the hoarse rattle of the kingfisher, the lively notes of the 

 tufted titmouse, the simple refrain of the ground-robin, with those of the 

 grakles, the meadow-lark, the bluebird, and others." 



' Now where did Dr. Brewer get this information, and how did the 

 reputation become fastened upon the little bird? for certainly there is no 

 good evidence to be found in the writings of modern observers that this 

 wren ever truly mimics the voices of other birds, as do the mockingbird, 

 the cat-bird, the sage-thrnsh of the Rocky Mountains, and some others. 



