OUR HOME BIRDS. 
89 
wish we could see a little bird teaching her young 
ones to sing.” 
“ It is the people that observe who see things/’ re- 
plied the governess — “ people who use their eyes and 
ears w T hen they go about. This is what the great 
naturalists have done ; and you cannot begin too 
early to watch for the beautiful sights and sounds 
that are constantly around you. We will all go to 
the woods some pleasant day and try what we can 
see together.” 
The children were delighted with this proposition, 
but presently they asked if there was not something 
more about wrens ; they could not seem to get enough 
of these funny little creatures. 
“ There are several species of wrens,” said Miss 
Harson, “ but none so well known as the one I have 
been describing. Here is a picture of the ruby- 
crowned wren, which is just half an inch shorter 
than the house wren, and distinguished from it by 
being generally brighter-colored, while the back part 
of the head is ornamented with an oblong spot of 
vermilion, usually almost hid by the other plumage. 
“ Mr. Ruby is generally found among the maple- 
blossoms about the first of April, and he is also 
partial to peach-blossoms, apple-blossoms, and other 
fruit-blossoms ; partly because his dainty taste revels 
in the tops of the sweet and slender stamina of the 
