16 
INTRODUCTION. 
constantly constructed of native materials, the principal of which is 
a kind of tough grass. The blades are formed into a sort of platted 
purse, but little inferior to a coarse straw bonnet ; the artificial labor 
bestowed is so apparent, that Wilson humorously adds, that on his 
showing it to a matron of his acquaintance, betwixt joke and earnest, 
she asked, “ if he thought it could not be taught to darn stockings.’ 7 
Every one has heard of the tailor bird of India ( Sylvia sutorio ) 
this little architect, by way of saving labor, and gaining security for 
its tiny frabrie, actually, as a seamstress, sows together the edges of 
two leaves of a tree, in which her nest, at the extremity of the 
branch, is then secured for the period of incubation. Among the 
Sylvias or Warblers, in which are included the Nightingale, and 
familiar Robin Redbreast, there is a species inhabiting Florida and 
the West Indies, the Sylvia pen silis , which forms its woven, covered 
nest to rock in the air at the end of two suspending strings, rather than 
trust it to the wily enemies by which it is surrounded ; the entrance, 
for security, is alsc from below, and through a, winding vestibule.. 
Our little cheerful, and almost domestic Wren ( Troglodytes 
fulvus)> which so often disputes with the Martin and the Blue- 
bird the possession of the box, set up for their accommodation in 
the garden or near the house, in his native resort of a hollow' tree, 
or the shed of some neglected out-house, begins his fabric by form- 
ing a barricade of crooked interlacing twigs, a kind of chevaux-de- 
frise , for the defence of his internal habitation, leaving merely 
a very small entrance at the upper edge ; and so pertinacious is the 
instinct of this little petulant and courageous warbler, that, without 
perceiving the inutility of his industry, in the artificial mansion pre- 
pared for him, he still laboriously encumbers the interior of the box 
with the same mass of rude sticks. The industry of this little bird, and 
his affection for his mate, are somewhat remarkable, as he frequently 
completes his habitation without aid, and then searches out a female on 
whom to bestow it; but not being always successful, or the premises 
not satisfactory to his mistress, his labor remains without reward, and 
he continues to warble out his lay in solitude. The same gallant habit 
prevails also with our recluse Wren of the marshes. Wilson’s 
Marsh Wren (Troglodytes palustris), instead of courting the advan- 
tages of a proximity to our dwellings, lives wholly among the reed 
fens, suspending his mud-plastered and circularly covered nest 
usually to the stalks of the plant he so much affects. Another 
marsh species inhabits the low and swampy meadows of our vicinity, 
* For the curious nest of this bird, see the vignette on page 30. 
