112 
VERTEBRATA. 
cherrj-tree ; or frequently in small boxes, fixed on the top of a pole in or near the garden, to 
which latter he is extremely partial, for the great number of caterpillars and other larvae with 
which it constantly supplies him. If all these conveniences are wanting, he will put up with an 
old hat nailed on the weather-boards, with a small hole for entrance ; and, if even this be denied 
him, he will find some hole, corner, or crevice about the house, barn, or stable, rather than aban- 
don the dwellings of man. Wilson tells us that in the month of June a mower hung up his coat 
under a shed, near a barn ; two or three days elapsed before he had occasion to put it on again ; 
thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he found it completely filled with some rubbish, as he expressed 
it, and, on extracting the whole mass, found it to be the nest of a wren completely finished, and 
lined with a large quantity of feathers. In his retreat he was followed by the little forlorn pro- 
prietors, Avho scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining the whole economy of their 
household aff'airs. The eggs are six or seven, and sometimes even more, of a red-purplish fiesli- 
color, innumerable fine grains of that tint being thickly sprinkled over the whole egg. They 
generally raise two broods in a season. This species has a very merry, rollicking song, and dis- 
plays great antipathy to cats, especially those which venture near their nests. They are excect.- 
ingly useful to man, on account of the immense number of insects Avhich they destroy. 
Other American species are the Great 
Carolina Mocking- Wren, T. Ludovicia- 
nus, five and a half inches long ; noted for 
its extraordinary musical powers, displayed 
in imitating various other feathered song- 
sters, and found from 'New York to Florida ; 
the Wood Wren, T.Americanus, resembling 
the house wren, and found from Maine to 
Carolina; the Common Winter Wren, T. 
hyemaMSy closely resembling the European 
wren, and once erroneously supposed to be 
identical with it ; Bewick's Wren, T. Be- 
wickii, five inches long, and found in Louisi- 
ana; the RocKT Mountain Wren, T.ohso- 
letus^ found on the Arkansas Eiver; the 
Marsh Wren, T. palustris^iom and a half 
inches long, and found in the Middle States 
in summer; the Short-billed Marsh 
Wren, T. brevirostris, found in summer 
from Massachusetts to the Southern States; 
the White-throated Wren, T. Mexicanus, 
a Mexican species, five and a half inches 
long, and recently observed in California; 
and Parkman's Wren, T. Farkmanii, found 
on tb e Columbia River. Of all these species 
the House Wren is the only one that seeks 
familiarity with man. 
Genus STIPITURE : Stipiture — This includes, among nearly a dozen other closely-allied 
Australian birds, the Emu Wren, S. malachuruSy called Waiv-gul-jelly by the natives of New 
South Wales, where it is found. It haunts marshy districts, is shy and recluse, has short wings 
ill adapted for flight, runs very fast, is very active, often carrying its tail erect and sometimes re- 
troverting it in a ludicrous manner. The body of this bird is about two and a half inches, and the 
tail three times as long. This consists of six spreading feathers, the barbs of which are of a loose 
structure, like the feathers of the emu, whence the popular name of the bird. The nest is ball- 
shaped, and is placed in a tuft of grass ; the eggs are usually three. 
THE EMU WREN. 
