The Wren. 169 



the Robin ; and, incredible as it may seem, there are still many persons living who 

 believe it to be the female of that familiar bird ; their study of Natural History 

 has apparently ceased from the period when they let go of their nurse's apron- 

 string, and the old rhyme — " Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, are God A'mighty's 

 cock and hen," is regarded by them as inspired truth. Curiously enough, whereas 

 the Robin seems to be everywhere held in superstitious reverence, the poor little 

 Wren is remorselessly hunted to death in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the south 

 of Prance, for no better reason. 



Although bold and fearless in the winter, the Wren is more frequently heard 

 than seen in the summer months ; although, in the spring, I have seen it sitting 

 in a low tree singing merrily enough : the song bears some resemblance to that 

 of the Hedge- Sparrow, but is much more varied, more rapid, and usually terminates 

 in a trill : the call is tsit-sit-sit, often repeated over and over again, as the little 

 bird drops from twig to twig in the cover. Excepting when feeding the young, 

 and when moulting, the Wren's song may always be heard ; it is loud and brilliant, 

 rather than melodious. 



When breeding, and it is an early breeder, there is no British bird more 

 jealous of its nest : to be seen watching a Wren at work is often sufficient to 

 condemn the half-completed building, a fact which I have proved by actual 

 experiment : this excessive nervousness is probably the sole cause for the many 

 imperfect or deserted nests which occur, and which are supposed by rustics to be 

 purposely constructed as roosting-places for the male birds. But, after all, the 

 same notion has been countenanced, even by scientific men, respecting the incom- 

 plete nests formed by unpaired males of the Baya Weaver ; whereas, in the latter 

 case, the nest is always completed by the combined labours of both sexes, and 

 apparently cannot be managed by one sex unaided. 



Only once was I ever successful in removing eggs from a Wren's nest, 

 without causing desertion ; and then I chanced to discover some small oval white 

 pebbles close to the gorse-bush in which the nest was suspended, and substituted 

 them for the eggs ; but I was very careful not to touch the nest with my fingers, 

 using a metal spoon to remove the eggs. The hen bird was evidently far away 

 at the time ; for, had she seen me, I do not believe she would have continued to 

 lay ; as she certainly did. 



I have found nests of the Wren built in the following sites : — in hedges ; 

 hawthorn- bushes ; furze ; laurels ; in ivy on walls, or clambering round the entrances 

 to caves or grottoes ; against trunks of trees, either openly near the ground or 

 higher up in the trailing ivy ; in brambles and straggling scrub in woods, where 

 masses of the previous year's leaves have collected in the vines ; under overhanging 



Vol. I. 2 F 



