34 THEA O DUB OoN BL i Tee 
Bewick’s Wren 
NOTHER name for this wren is “‘Long-tailed House Wren.” 
AN That is as good a description of him as could be given. He is such 
a rare visitor in the region around Chicago, that I was particularly 
delighted to have had the opportunity to make the following intimate 
observations. 
A Bewick’s Wren has visited our place near the Dunes of Northern 
Indiana every summer, but we never thought of having him for a 
neighbor since authorities give his range as “‘southern half of Indiana,” 
and ‘‘rare in southern Michigan.” 
This year I had been listening and looking for him several days before 
I finally heard him on May ist. An ornithological friend, Miss B., 
spent the day of April 30 with me and we did not see or hear a sign of 
him. The next day, however, while we were doing the luncheon dishes 
I heard his loud song quite close, I dropped the dish towel with an 
‘““Excuse me, but I hear Bewick’s Wren.” I was out on the porch when 
Dr. C. called “‘Here is a tiny wren on the feeding shelf.” And sure 
enough, right in front of the window sat Mr. Bewick singing a greeting. 
His long tail flopped from side to side as though it were not very securely 
fastened. Chapman says of the tail that it seems to be at the mercy of 
passing breezes. 
He sang quite freely the rest of the day and the next week, May 7th, 
I heard him singing off and on all day. On May toth hearing him very 
close, I discovered him going in a feeding box which had been put up 
for the winter birds. 
This box is on a post about five feet high, just outside an east window. 
It was put there especially for the smaller birds, as the Blue Jays get 
most of the seeds put on the open shelf. An article in Bird-Lore de- 
scribed a box with small openings which the writer had used success- 
fully, so we copied it. The three openings are across the upper half of 
the front and are about one and a quarter inches square. My small birds 
did not seem to care for it and it stood half full of sunflower seeds all 
winter. Toward spring I saw a Nuthatch alight on the box and look in 
a few times, but never saw him actually go in. 
| arranged a curtain so I could see without being seen, and soon 
the wren went in again carrying a small twig. He had no sooner entered 
the box than Nuthatch went in and drove him out. In fact, Nuthatch 
seemed very indignant, and for awhile went in and out busily, getting 
sunflower seeds. I slipped out when the way was clear and looked in. 
A small pile of sticks and straws was in the southwest corner of the 
nesting-box. 
