The Carolina Wren 
199 
tion that his notes are deliberate imitations of those of other birds. Nut- 
tall, indeed, gives a most elaborate list of his vocal performances, likening 
them to various birds, including the Kingfisher and the Maryland Yellow- 
throat, in addition to those already mentioned. It seems probable, how- 
ever, that the Carolina Wren is not a mocker; that the resemblance 
of his notes to those of certain other birds is accidental, and that they are 
as truly his own as is the song of the Robin, the Hermit Thrush, or any 
other of our birds. That there is a striking resem- 
blance in the notes of our Wren, the Cardinal, and the Resemblances 
Tufted Titmouse, is beyond question; and one cannot 
but recall the similarity in distribution of these three birds, and wonder 
if there is any relationship between song and environment. 
As spring advances, the repertory of the Carolina Wren seems to be 
enlarged, and his voice is always a characteristic one in the bird-chorus 
of his neighborhood. Rocky banks with cave-like retreats have now more 
interest for him than ever, and with never-abating energy he and his mate 
search out each promising cavity for a suitable situation for their nest. 
This structure is usually arched over, leaving an opening on the side, and 
is constructed of leaves, roots, feathers, moss, etc., lined with finer ma- 
terial. In the far South the dead threads of Spanish moss are much 
used. The eggs are four to six, creamy white, with rusty brown and 
lavender markings, often collected about the larger end. 
Old stumps and hollow trees, or cavities in stone walls, are fre- 
quently appropriated as nesting-sites, and occasionally the bird becomes 
quite as familiar as his smaller relative, the House 
Wren. He will take possession of bird-boxes ; and in 
one instance, a brood was reared in a mortise-hole 
in the wall of a house, in such a position that the old bird had to fly 
in and out over the heads of the people sitting on the porch. 
T. Gilbert Pearson found nests in North Carolina situated in the 
pocket of an old overcoat left hanging on a back veranda, in a tin wash- 
basin on the mantel of a deserted cabin, in a broken gourd carelessly 
tossed upon a grape-arbor, and in a cap hanging against the latticed wall 
of an outhouse. Arthur T. Wayne records a nest found in a hole in a 
river-bank in South Carolina. 
On an estate near Philadelphia a pair of Carolina Wrens entered the 
sitting-room through a window left partly open and built their nest in the 
back of an upholstered sofa, entering where a hole had been torn in the 
cover. They were not disturbed, and retained quiet possession until the 
young were safely reared. Not far away, a brood raised near the house 
came back, night after night, to roost in a rolled-up Japanese screen 
hanging on the porch. 
As a rule, however, the Carolina Wren is dis- 
tinctly a bird of wild, wooded spots, usually in the 
immediate vicinity of some river or small stream, for water seems to 
have a peculiar attraction for it. Audubon notes its fondness for water, 
no doubt because of the greater prevalence of its favorite insects there; 
Queer 
Nesting-places 
Fondness 
for Water 
