The Cactus Wren 
We have no choice, then, but to begin our studies with an investi¬ 
gation of those great globular, or foot-ball-shaped, masses of grass and 
fine weeds which we shall find imbedded in almost any cactus patch, or 
upborne by some taller stem of cholla, in fine scorn of concealment. 
The mistress will inevitably have slipped away—the conspicuous position 
of the nest guarantees that; but if incubation is well along, or young are 
in the basket, an anxious head will presently be thrust up from a con¬ 
cealed vantage point in a neighboring thicket. A glance, and down 
again. Or if the bird is 
descried on top of a 
cholla in the distance, 
it is in a strained, alert 
attitude. The male 
parent voices his 
anxiety by song, the 
very same with which 
he charmed his mate, 
for he has never felt the 
urge of harsher passions. 
Soft and low it comes, 
a rich yodelling alto of 
uniform tone—uniform, 
that is, save for the 
light crescendo with 
which the series opens, 
and the fading murmur 
of its closing note. 
Adroit use of the pedals 
is the performer’s one 
claim to distinction, for 
he can breathe 
amoroso con expressione 
(soft pedal), or else fetch 
out a clashing, metallic 
fortissimo. In extreme 
cases I have known the 
bird to enter the very 
bush in which the nest 
was placed and plead 
most eloquently. 
Ah, the nest! it is a 
nest of cactus wren in “cholla” cactus wonderful affair, as big 
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