THE HOUSE WREN. 
107 
him, he will find some hole, corner, or crevice about 
the house, barn, or stable, rather than abandon the 
dwellings of man. 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 proprietors, who 
scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining 
the whole economy of their household affairs. 
u This little bird has a strong antipathy to cats ; 
for, having frequent occasion to glean among the cur- 
rant-bushes, and other shrubbery in the garden, those 
lurking enemies of the feathered race often prove 
fatal to him. A box fitted up in the window of the 
room where I slept, was taken possession of by a pair 
of Wrens. Already the nest was built, and two eggs 
laid, when one day, the window being open, as well 
as the room door, the female Wren, venturing too far 
into the room to reconnoitre, was sprung upon by 
Grimalkin, who had planted herself there for «the 
purpose, and, before relief could be given, was de- 
stroyed. Curious to see how the survivor would de- 
mean himself, I watched him carefully for several 
days. At first he sung with great vivacity for an 
hour or so, but, becoming uneasy, went off for half 
an hour; on his return, he chaunted again as before, 
went to the top of the house, stable, weeping willow, 
