154 
The House Wren 
we see that suitable nesting-places are left them, or, lacking these, provide 
substitutes. Many of these species, in fact, are thought to be much more 
numerous than formerly. 
Eight species of wrens are locally common in the United States east 
of the Rockies, wherever the region is thickly enough brushed to suit 
their necessities; and of these the Bewick’s Wren, the House Wren, and 
the Carolina Wren, are sufficiently sociable not only to prefer to nest near 
houses, but to take quickly to nesting-boxes in preference to the usual 
crannies and tree-holes, or to the brush-heaps in which they spend so 
much time creeping to and fro, sometimes in pursuit of insect-food and 
sometimes, it seems, in a spirit of pure restlessness. 
On some morning in the last week in April, preferably after a night 
of rain with wind, we come to consciousness with the 
A Morning knowledge that the morning song is pervaded by new 
Greeting tones. Presently the voice of the Thrasher is heard 
giving direction to an imaginary gardener about his planting; the Cat- 
bird has once more possessed himself of his point of vantage on top of 
a clothes-post ; the Wood Thrush and Mockingbird sing from the dog- 
wood on the edge between garden and woods, and an unrepeatable burst 
of melody from the corner of the porch close under the window draws 
your attention to the little, reddish, olive-brown bird balancing there, with 
tail and eyes turned skyward, though you know before you look that it 
is a House Wren that has returned, and that, pert as he looks, very soon 
he will be taking housekeeping orders from the Jenny of his choice. 
In a day or two Jenny, or rather a number of Jennies, will appear, and 
then follows a month of the most active courtship in the world of song- 
birds. Active ? I had almost said quarrelsome, for such it usually seems ; 
but then a mere human being may not be able to distinguish between 
wren repartee and the ‘Tack talk” of real anger. 
Whichever it may be, the pastime occupies nearly all the month of 
apple-blossoms, the serious nest-building not beginning until the last week 
of May, in spite of the fact that a pair of House Wrens have been known 
to rear three broods of six in a single season. 
For prolific birds such as these, whose cleanly habits lead them to 
prepare a new home for each brood, it will be seen 
A Good that the possibility of finding suitable nesting-places 
is a matter of the first importance, as for such ardent 
insect-eaters the food-supply is always at hand during the season — from 
April to October — when they are with us. 
The old-fashioned farm was the House Wren’s paradise, as well as 
that of the Barn Swallow, Chimney Swift and Phoebe, though the barn- 
buildings were frequently too close to the house for the best of human 
sanitation, and the various appurtenances were collected with a view of 
“being handy” rather than with an eye to order and precision. Here 
Jenny and Johnny would locate their first nest in an empty tin can upon 
one of the cowshed rafters, filling all the soace not absolutely needed by 
a mass of small dry sticks ; for, above all things, the wrens seem to 
