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THE HOUSE WREN. 



--■■•■ Troglodytes jedotj, Vieill. 

 PLATE CXX.— Male, Female, and Young. 



From whence the House Wren comes, or to what parts it retires during 

 winter, is more than I have been able to ascertain. Although it is extremely 

 abundant in the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Mary- 

 land, from the middle of April until the beginning of October, I have never 

 been able to trace its motions, nor do I know of any naturalist in our own 

 country, or indeed in any other, who has been more fortunate. 



Its flight is short, generally low, and performed by a constant tremor of 

 the wings, without any jerks of either the body or tail, although the latter 

 is generally seen erect, unless when the bird is singing, when it is always 

 depressed. When passing from one place to another, during the love-season, 

 or whilst its mate is sitting, this sweet little bird flutters still more slowly 

 through the air, singing all the while. It is sprightly, active, vigilant, and 

 courageous. It delights in being near and about the gardens, orchards, and 

 the habitations of man, and is frequently found in abundance in the very 

 centre of our eastern cities, where many little boxes are put up against the 

 walls of houses, or the trunks of trees, for its accommodation, as is also 

 done in the country. In these it nestles and rears its young. It is seldom, 

 however, at a loss for a breeding place, it being satisfied with any crevice or 

 hole in the walls, the sill of a window, the eaves, the stable, the barn, or the 

 upper side of a piece of timber, under the roof of a piazza. Now and then, 

 its nest may be seen in the hollow branch of an apple tree. I knew of 

 one in the pocket of an old broken-down carriage, and many in such an old 

 hat as you see represented in the plate, the little creatures anxiously peeping 

 out or hanging to the side of the hat, to meet their mother, who has just 

 arrived with a spider, whilst the male is on the lookout, ready to interpose 

 should any intruder come near. The same nest is often resorted to for 

 several successive years, merely receiving a little mending. 



The familiarity of the House Wren is extremely pleasing. In Penn- 

 sylvania a pair of these birds had formed a nest, and the female was sitting 

 in a hole of the wall, within a few inches of my (literally so-called) drawing- 

 room. The male was continually singing within a few feet of my wife and 

 myself, whilst I was engaged in portraying birds of other species. When the 



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