Birds Tioga 0©. N. Y. Aiciai 



j 63. House Wren. Common. Builds in 

 1 Martin boxes and natural cavities of trees. 

 The eggs, six to eight in, number, usually six, 

 are of a pale reddish flesh color, covered with 

 flue dots and sprinklings of a darker color. 

 I The measurement of the egg is .VS in. by 1.0-32 

 I in. Occasionally two broods are reared in one 

 season. The nest is composed of sticks, horse 

 hair and feathers, is very bulky and neatly 

 constructed; the hollow is quite deep. This 

 pugnacious little bird is a very industrious 

 nest builder, carrying sticks tfiree to four 

 inches in length. 



M'anitoba Birds, ^rrf1,lPB6. 

 Robert Miller Christy, 



One one occasion I was told that a Wren, 

 ( 'l'iv,/lo(hjtes aedon,) had built its nest in the pock- 

 et of a coat hung on the door of a ferryman's 

 house on the Souris River. 



O.&O. X.May.l83o.p.;7pr 



Persistency at Nest-Building in a House-When. — A House- Wren 

 {Troglodytes aedon) has this season manifested a strong predilection for the 

 nozzle of a pump for a nesting- site. The pump being in daily use, the 

 nozzle, much to our surprise, was repeatedly found to be obstructed with 

 sticks. An investigation, of the novel incident led to the discovery of the 

 cause, it being found that a House- Wren was industriously at work carry- 

 ing materials into the pump for the construction of its nest. The bird 

 was finally left one morning to carry on his work, when, at the end of two 

 hours, it was found that he had filled the pump so full that water could 

 not be obtained until a part of the sticks had been removed. The nest, 

 through the necessary use of the pump, was three times destroyed before 

 the persevermg little fellow abandoned his work. — Abbott W. Feazab, 

 TFatertown, Mass. Bull. N . 0 . 0 , 2 , July. 18 7 7 . p . Jf, 



Contemporary with the Mockingbirds in sea- 

 son of breeding are ( he Hjiuae Wrens . I observed 

 the first completely fledged young of this species 

 this year on llie !)lh of April. These Wrens 

 breed hi re in priifusion; and they are not par- 

 ticular as 1(1 wlii ic, tlaey build their ne.sts, for I 

 liavr fdiujil llicin lireeding in woodland stumps, 

 e.s ill lencc p(jsls, old cattle skulls, and two 

 of my friends, not given to oological inqun-y, 



Unusual Nesting. 



I have received from Mr. William A. 

 Mastin the following, dated Williamsburg, 

 W. Va., Feln-uary 17, 1892: "I mailed you 

 yesterday a set of Wren's eggs found in a hay 

 mow on Cherry River on the last day of 

 .January. Is it a usual occurrence ? I have 

 tlic nest; will send or bring it out if you 

 wish. . . ." The eggs undoubtedly belong to 

 the House Wren {Troylod^jtes a'don), but aver- 

 age slightly larger. Mr. Mastin's address is 

 Richmond, Nicholas County, W. Va. 



I found, on blowing, the eggs were perfectly 

 fresh. They were five in number, but two, 

 unfortunately, were broken. 2'had. S^lrber. 



Wlilte Salplmr Springs, W. Va. 



0.& O. Vol. 17. April 1802 p. 59 



Few birds are less regardful of position than the Wren. 

 In June, 1882, near the town of Tbornbury, Pa., a pair of 

 Wrens selected the space in a stationary block over a sheave 

 in a derrick, as a site for a home, and therein deposited 

 their favorite sticks and feathers. A similar strncture had 

 occupied the same spot the previous year, and a brood of 

 young ones raised. These nests. In the elements of compo- 

 sition, differed not from the typical form. It Is their strange 

 and anomalous situation, rather than anything else, that 

 excites our interest and astonishment. The materials of 

 the nest were so dexterously arranged as not to interfere 

 with the revolution of the wheel. The entrance to the nest 

 was on the side facing the rope that moved the pulley. The 

 opposite side could have been used for this purpose, and 

 doubtless with less danger to life or limb, but a preference 

 seems to have been shown for the other. Why this was so 

 remained an unsolved problem for some time ; but when 

 each bird was seen to alight upon the rope at the top of the 

 derrick and ride down to the nest, the reason became appa- 

 rent. Never did Linnet enjoy tlie rockmg twig with half 

 the zest that these eccentric creatures did their ride adown 

 the rope. A hundred times a day, when the necessity 

 arose, they treated themselves to the same pleasure, the 

 rope moving at the rate of thirty-five feet in a second of 

 time. Six days out of seven, from morning until night, 

 they had the benefit of this mode of conveyance, and noth- 

 ing occurred to disturb their peace and harmony. In due 

 time a family of happy, rollicking children was raised, and 

 the nest in the derrick deserted. 



/ O.&O. X. July,lS85.p, Ilk 



Tlie present writer can recall a somewhat 

 similar instance to that related by Mr. Bryant. 

 In this case a pair of Houge y^jm^{Tr„gloayUs 

 mdon) chose a box foe their nesting place, that 



was intended to shelter a clothes-line. The 

 rope was wound around a spindle inside the 

 box, and the birds made their entrance into the 

 box through the hole that was left for the line 

 to pass out. Here they built their nest on the 

 top of the rope. Every Monday morning th 

 clotlies-line was unwound to hang the family, 

 wash upon it, and then there would appear at 

 the bottom of the box the rubbish that the 

 wrens had brought in to consti-uct theii- nest. 

 For sevei-al weeks the birds persevered, con- 

 structhig then- nest with infinite labor, only to 

 find it pulled to pieces each week when the 

 . _rope was unwound. 



O.&O. XILSept. 1887 p. 144 -/ VJ~ 



