WREN. 
155 
sometimes employed in tlie construction. The nest when 
complete is spherical, except that the side attached to the 
stem is flattened. The opening for passing in and out is 
in the upper half, below the dome, and is nearly closed by 
the feathers with which it is lined. 
The constructing materials of the nest are flexible grass 
stalks, dead foliage, and green moss, of which the principal 
part consists. When built upon the ground, the form of 
the Wren’s nest differs considerably, and displays less in¬ 
genuity of contrivance, in proportion to the lesser need. A 
nest of this description in our possession is so much like that 
of a willow-wren, that it might, if empty, be mistaken for 
one. It is externally composed of dead fern, with a small 
portion of long green moss, interwoven with a few long flow¬ 
ering stems of grass, and lined with feathers. 
Another nest in our possession, is of less common con¬ 
struction : this is suspended beneath a branch of spruce 
fir, in the same manner as that of a golden-crested wren ; 
not, however, from the extremity, but from the centre of 
the branch. It is attached to the foliage of five or six 
pendant sprays by the long trailing branches of several sorts 
of wild geranium, or cranesbill, a material well adapted for 
binding the branches together; long grasses also appear in 
the structure, and dead leaves of various kinds, together 
with a little green moss. It is lined with skeleton leaves 
and a few roots, but no feathers. This nest is fully six 
inches long externally, and five inches in width. The width 
within is about three inches, and the depth rather more. 
The thickness of the nest varies from one to two inches, 
and in substance it is very firm, especially beneath and around 
the entrance. This nest contains four eggs, but sometimes 
as many as eight are found. 
The eggs of this species present very little variety, either 
in fonn or colour ; they measure usually eight lines by six ; 
