WINTER WREN. 155 
region in which it is found in the breeding season; it is, therefore, a summer resident in 
the northern parts of the Northern States and New England. In mountainous districts, 
where altitude answers for latitude, it is found south to the Blue Ridge Mountains of 
South Carolina. Prof. Wm. Brewster met with the species on the Black Mountain in 
western North Carolina where it was abundant in-the balsam firs from 5,000 to 6,000 
feet above the sea, filling the lonely forests with its exquisite melody at all times of the 
day. The song seemed to him even finer than in the North. 
I have found the bird in such woods in Wisconsin, where a dense and beautiful 
vegetation fringes the rippling and dashing brooks, where beautiful ferns grow among 
the shrubbery and where the humble trailing arbutus, and the spicy wintergreen and 
the dark green ground pine! carpet whole acres of the shady forest. When the 
beautiful snowy-white flowers of the moosewood? shine through the still leafless 
woods the melody of the Wood Wren is one of the most conspicuous of all bird-songs. 
This Wren is a shy bird, avoiding during the breeding season the neighborhood | of 
man. In fall and winter, however, I have observed it frequently in door yards, usually 
among wood-piles. In localities alluded to above, it is more numerous than is generally 
‘believed, as it is easily overlooked on account of its living on or near the ground where 
it hops along with surprising rapidity. It always seems to be a very happy bird. 
The night scarcely has passed, the morning scarcely dawns, and our little Wren loudly 
carols its matin song, sending its cheerful greeting to its feathered neighbors, still 
enjoying the repose of their sheltered nooks. It admonishes them to share its enjoyment 
of the early morning, ere the clouds of floating mist vanish before the rising sun. After 
it has awakened all the songsters of its woodland solitude, and having joined them in 
greeting the new morn, our lively bird begins its daily work. At first, however, it 
must take a refreshing drink, which it obtains from the clear and murmuring brook. 
Perched upon a stone or upon an exposed root it swallows the precious drink, than it 
utters a harsh trrrrrrr and flies to the shore, where it soon disappears among a network 
of small roots or in a dense thicket searching for food. 
In the shady forests of central Wisconsin, where large stumps or prostrated 
trees, more or less decayed, are overgrown with moss, where luxurious ferns emerge 
from the rich leaf-mould, our pretty Winter Wren is a regular breeding bird. More 
common it seems to be in the Adirondacks and Alleghany Mountains, particularly in 
localities where mountain streams and bubbling springs abound. In the Alleghanies 
where our most magnificent shrubs, rhododendrons, mountain laurels or kalmias and 
different azaleas fringe the streams.and brooks and often cover whole mountain sides, 
lending to them an indescribable charm, this bird appears to take up its abode every- 
where. 
Not having met with the nest myself, I will quote from an excellent account: ‘The 
song of the Winter Wren excels that of any other bird of its size with which I am 
acquainted. It is truly musical, full of cadence, energetic and melodious; its very 
continuance is surprising, and dull, indeed, must be the ear that thrills not on hearing 
it. When emitted, as it often is, from the dark depths of the unwholesome swamps, it 
operates so powerfully on the mind, that it by contrast inspires a feeling of wonder 
3 Lycopodium dendroideum. 2 Viburnum lantanoides. 
