The Western House Wren 
zirp zirp. It does not appear to answer any social need, for it is uttered 
by lone birds as they prowl about the garden shrubbery, or thread their 
way through a hillside thicket. I have fancied the notes were most 
in evidence in early fall and died out by spring; but whenever heard, 
they are among the most notable of bird cries heard in the year’s round. 
In nesting the Wrens do make free of the haunts of men, but are in 
nowise dependent on them. Old 
cabins afford convenient crannies,— 
forgotten auger holes, tin cans, bird 
boxes, a sleeve or pocket in an old 
coat hanging in the woodshed,—any¬ 
thing with a cavity will do; but, 
by the same token, an unused wood¬ 
pecker’s hole, or a knot-hole in a 
stump, miles from the haunts of 
men, will do a good deal better. 
In any case, the cavity, be it big 
or little, must first be filled up with 
sticks, with just room at the top 
for entrance. Into this mass a deep 
hollow is sunk, and this is heavily 
lined with horsehair, wool, feathers, 
bits of snake-skin, anything soft and 
comty. 
Large families, six or eight, are 
the rule, and the Wrens nest twice 
in a season. Possibly the second 
nesting takes place at higher alti¬ 
tudes. I know 1 have found their 
nests in late June miles from a human 
habitation, and at elevations which 
would not be agreeable in April or 
May. The highest records I can 
vouch for were in the Warner 
Mountains, where at an altitude of 
over 7000 feet I found a House 
Wren’s nest with small young on the 3rd of July, and another with five 
fresh eggs on the 8th of July. A member of the M. C. O. party of 1922, 
Lawrence Stevens, found two nests with young above Lake Mary, in 
southern Mono County, and at an altitude of over 9000 feet. Besides 
this, it is certain that an extensive invasion of the upper mountain areas 
follows the close of the breeding season. 
Taken in Oregon Photo by W. L. Finley 
A VERY BUSY WREN 
NOT QUITE SO BUSY AS APPEARS, HOWEVER. THE PICTURE IS A COM¬ 
POSITE, PRESENTING THE SAME BIRD TWICE 
