490 
ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF OUR BIRDS. 
Table showing the hind and number of insects and snails eaten by the 
Wrens — continued. 
Classification 
OP Food. 
1 
Ant. 
4 
Lepidoptera. 
3 
Diptera. 
21 
Beetles. 
7 
Hemiptera. 
2 
Grasshoppers .... 
1 
Dragon-fly. 
1 
Snail. 
51 
Adult forms.' 
1 
Larve.i 
5 
Grasshopper eggs. 
Number and Name op Speci¬ 
mens Examined. 
Of fourt e e n Long 
billed Marsh Wrens 
examined . 
1 
4 
1 
7 
2 
0 
2 
"5 
1 
o 
o 
1 
14 
1 
1 
Katios Represented by Lines. 
a 
I 
e 
i 
Of four Short-billed 
Marsh Wrens e x- 
amined. 
QJ 
a 
3 
- 4 -:> 
O 
O 
Moths .. 
Diptera. 
18 Adults. 
19. Thyothorus ludovicianus (Gm.), Bp. CAROLINA WREN. Group II. 
Class a. 
The habitat of this Wren is so peculiarly southern that it can only be regarded, 
at present, as a rare straggler in Wisconsin. 
20. Troglodytes domesticus (Bartr.), Coues. HOUSE WREN. Group I. 
Class b. 
The House Wren is a common summer resident, but at present, with us, a 
bird of heavily timbered districts rather than of openings and prairie sections. 
In the older Eastern and Middle States it has assumed much more familiar and 
intimate relationship with man than with us; there it is common about dwell¬ 
ings and nests in bird-houses, in the cornice of buildings, under the eaves, and 
in hollow cherry trees. Habits similar to these are being assumed by our birds, 
but at present they are most abundant in woods where the upturned roots and 
tangled branches of trees are common. It is very destructive to insects, feeding 
almost entirely, if not wholly, upon them, and is, therefore, a bird which any 
abimdance cannot make destrucrive to grains or fruits. It rears a large family, 
and often two each season. 
No pains should be spared in attracting these birds to our dwellings and in es¬ 
tablishing their homes along the fence-rows of cultivated fields. The accusation 
that is brought against them in the East, of their driving Bluebirds out of their 
liouses and appropriating them to their own use, is no great objection. Houses 
enough and to spare should be gladly provided for both species. This, how¬ 
ever, is to be said in regard to the disposition of these two species upon the farm. 
The size of the Bluebird, its method of obtaining food, and its haunts, fit it best 
for work in the open fields, where it should be especially encouraged; the House 
