THE HOUSE WREN. 107 



him, he will find some hole, corner, or crevice about 

 the house, barn, or stable, rather than abandon the 

 dwellings of man. In the month of June, a mower 

 hung up his coat under a shed, near a barn ; two or 

 three days elapsed before he had occasion to put it 

 on again ; thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he found 

 it completely filled with some rubbish, as he expressed 

 it, and, on extracting the whole mass, found it to be 

 the nest of a Wren completely finished, and lined 

 with a large quantity of feathers. In his retreat he 

 was followed by the little forlorn proprietors, who 

 scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining 

 the whole economy of their household afiairs. 



" This little bird has a strong antipathy to cats ; 

 for, having frequent occasion to glean among the cur- 

 rant-bushes, and other shrubbery in the garden, those 

 lurking enemies of the feathered race often prove 

 fatal to him. A box fitted up in the window of the 

 room where I slept, was taken possession of by a pair 

 of Wrens. Already the nest was built, and two eggs 

 laid, when one day, the window being open, as well 

 as the room door, the female Wren, venturing too far 

 into the room to reconnoitre, was sprung upon by 

 Grimalkin, who had planted herself there for the 

 purpose, and, before relief could be given, was de- 

 stroyed. Curious to see how the survivor would de- 

 mean himself, I watched him carefully for several 

 days. At first he sung with great vivacity for an 

 hour or so, but, becoming uneasy, went off for half 

 an hour; on his return, he chaunted again as before, 

 went to the top of the house, stable, weeping willow, 



