CAROLINA WREN 21 



the water and are changed into frogs! But 

 the summer disappearance of the Chickadee is 

 no mystery to be accounted for by fables ; he has 

 simply retired to the woods, together with the 

 Nuthatch and Titmouse, where you may see them 

 among the green treetops if you look closely, 

 until the retirement of the migratory birds and 

 the winter scarcity of food brings them round 

 our homes again. 



CAROLINA WREN 



This is our most constant if not our most elo- 

 quent singer. In all months and all weathers we 

 are awakened early by the bell-like jingle of 

 "Percedar, percedar, percedar, perceet!" or 

 "Jubilee, jubilee, jubilee !" which may be an- 

 swered from a little distance by "Sweetheart, 

 sweetheart, sweetheart!" The merriest, sauci- 

 est, busiest little creatures are all our Wrens, 

 as friendly as they are excitable. They all carry 

 a nervous, jerky tail straight up over the back, 

 and all have a voice and a spirit that seem too 

 large for such tiny bodies. They are perhaps the 

 only species smaller than the English sparrows 

 determined enough to hold their own among 

 those noisy bullies so as to nest in the back yards 

 and suburban spaces of town. For this reason 

 if no other, we are bound to keep a particularly 

 affectionate spot in our memories for the brown 



