156 WINTER WREN. 
and delight, and on such occasions has impressed me with a sense of the goodness of 
the Almighty Creator, who has rendered every spot of earth in some way subservient 
to the welfare of his creatures. 
“Once when traveling through a portion of the most gloomy part of a thick 
and tangled wood in the great pine forest, near Mauch Chunk in Pennsylvania, at a 
time when I was intent on guarding myself against the venomous reptiles I expected 
to encounter, the sweet song of this Wren came suddenly on my ear, and with so 
cheery an effect that I suddenly lost all apprehension of danger, and pressed forward 
through the rank briers and stiff laurels in pursuit of the bird which I hoped was not 
far from its nest. But he, as if bent on puzzling me, rambled here and there among the 
thickest bushes with uncommon cunning, now singing in one spot not far distant, and 
presently in another in a different direction. After much exertion and considerable 
fatigue, I at last saw it alight on the side of a large tree, close to the roots, and heard 
it warble a few notes, which I thought exceeded any it had previously uttered. Sud- 
denly another Wren appeared by its side, but darted off in a moment, and the bird 
itself, which I had followed, disappeared. I soon reached the spot, without having for 
an instant removed my eyes from it, and observed a protuberance covered with moss 
and lichens, resembling the excrescences which are often seen on our forest trees, with 
this difference, that the aperture was perfectly rounded, clean, and quite smooth. I 
put a finger into it and felt the pecking of a bird’s bill, while a querulous cry was 
emitted. In a word, I had, the first time in my life, found the nest of a Winter Wren. 
Externally it measured 7 inches in length and 4.50 in breadth; the thickness of 
its walls, composed of moss and lichens, was nearly 2 inches; and thus it presented 
internally the appearance of a narrow bag, the wall, however, being reduced to a few 
lines where it was in contact with the bark of the tree. The lower half of the cavity 
was compactly lined with the fur of the American hare, and in the bottom or bed of 
the nest there lay over this about half a dozen of the large downy abdominal feathers 
of our common Grouse (Bonasa umbellus).” 
Audubon found six eggs in this nest, and the same number in a second one 
discovered by him. Another nest which Mr. H. D. Minot found in the White Mountains, 
was thickly lined with feathers of the Ruffed Grouse; it was built in a low moss-covered 
stump, in a dark, swampy forest, filled with tangled piles of fallen trees and branches. 
The eggs, from four to six in number, have a clear white ground-color, spotted with 
reddish-brown and lavender, chiefly at the larger end. The average size is .69X.49. 
Mr. Ruthven Deane describes* three nests which were found in Houlton, Maine. One 
found Aug. 8, with four eggs, was a beautiful piece of bird-architecture. It was com- 
posed mainly of compact green moss, with which a few hemlock twigs were interwoven, 
and lined thickly with feathers of the Canada Grouse, Blue Jay, and other birds. All 
three were found in similar situations, in the débris about fallen trees, 
The WESTERN WINTER WREN, Troglodytes hiemalis pacificus Bairp, inhabits the 
Pacific coast region from Sitka to southern California. Its habits and nidification are 
in conformity with those of the true species. 
* See Bull, Nutt. Club, IV, 1879, 
