114 



NATURE-STUDY 



dares to venture. Occasionally other trees, soft maples and 

 tall cottonwoods, are selected for the nest. It is composed 

 of a network of bark fibres, grasses, hair, and threads skil- 

 fully woven together into a httle sack or swinging basket, 

 and is hung below the branch. 



The little house wren will build in almost any sort of 

 cavity, a knot-hole in a tree, a deserted woodpecker's nest, 



a hollow gourd 

 suspended on 

 poles or waUs, 

 even old boots 

 and coat pock- 

 ets. The house 

 wren is very 

 easily attracted 

 to our homes by 

 placing a bird- 

 house on some 

 shady wall oi 

 on a tree. The 

 hole should be 



Fig. 20. Wren Box, Side Removed. rather hio^h UP 



and not more than one inch in diameter. Here is a picture of 

 the inside of a wren-box. It is more than half filled with 

 coarse sticks and twigs, some six or eight inches long, which 

 the bird knew enough to take in endwise. Finally, a few 

 feathers and some cottonwood down were added for lining. 



The nesting habits of the house sparrow are easily ob- 

 served. It builds in sheltered nooks about the house, over 

 cornices, mouldings, in drain-spouts, and in holes in the 

 walls or roof. The nest itself is not very elegant, being 



