74 
A CHAPTER IN THE 
birds ; — yes : mucli better/’ she continued 
thoughtfully. 
Such, we believe, is the general feeling 
among our young folks about this bird; and 
although many of them have, perhaps, heard 
all about its history, and know its habits well, 
still there are doubtless many more who have 
had no opportunities for learning about it, 
and it is for these that we prepare this sketch. 
The house Wren makes its appearance in 
our gardens and orchards by the middle of 
May, and by the 26th of that month, it begins 
to prepare a summer home for itself and little 
ones. 
Now the only bad trait in the character of 
this little bird is its habit of appropriating the 
house of some of its neighbors, just before 
they want to lay their own eggs in it, and 
many of our friends have doubtless condemned 
it on this account ; but let them not be too 
hasty. The other birds can build another nest 
easier and quicker than she, and they are none 
of them so valuable in the orchard and garden, 
in destroying the noxious insects that infest 
