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twelve to fourteen days, and the young remain about two weeks in the 
nest. The female alone incubates, but the cock helps to feed and care for 
the young. Two and often three broods are reared in a season. 
Most Carolina Wren activity is on or near the ground as it creeps 
over, under, and around piles of wood or brush, always searching every 
nook, cranny, and crevice for possible satisfaction of the appetite. It may 
climb the trunk of a tree, sometimes to a surprising height, examining 
crevices in the bark for food in the manner of Brown Creepers. 
Examination of the contents of hundreds of stomachs shows that the 
food of the Carolina Wren consists of nearly 95 per cent animal matter, 
chiefly insects. Beetles make up about 14 per cent, all injurious except 
a few predatory ground beetles; among the beetles are the cotton-bolk 
weevil, the cucumber beetle, the bean-leaf beetle, and numberous flea 
beetles. Ants account for about five per cent, as do bees and wasps. Cater- 
pillars are prominent. Grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, and their eggs 
make up 12 per cent. Spiders are eaten in every month. The vegetable 
food is largely seeds. The bird certainly is of tremendous service to agri- 
culture. The Carolina Wren will visit feeding trays placed near brush or 
other shelter, and enjoys suet, ground peanuts, marrow of bones, or 
hamburger steak. 
This wren sings more or less every month in the year and in all kinds 
of weather. Various authorities agree that the song is loud, liquid, and 
carries far. It consists of the repetition of two, three, and rarely, four note 
phrases, a phrase being generally repeated four to six times in quick 
succession. The song has a rich, whistled quality with occasional vociferous 
outbreaks. Each individual bird, extremely versatile in singing, produces 
a large number of different songs. One may seldom hear the same wren 
delivering the same song two days in succession. At the height of its 
song period, the wren may be heard from dawn to dusk. Of course the 
song is variously interpreted; a version often used is tea-kettle-tea-kettle- 
tea-kettle or wheedle-wheedle-wheedle. The Carolina Wren and the Winter 
Wren are the only ventriloquists among the wrens. Saunders says that 
because of the rich quality and great variety of its song, the Carolina 
Wren is probably the best singer among our wrens. Certainly it is a 
beautiful and persistent songster. Carolina Wrens, aside from the breeding 
period, are typically solitary and do not form flocks. 
927 Brummel St., Evanston, Ill. 
fl ft ft ft 
WHAT KIND OF A WORLD DO WE WANT? 
By J. W. Galbreath 
THERE ARE SOME IDLE, out-of-the-way acres in every county and 
state that need to be set aside for Natural Areas. What kind of a world 
will we have if man is the only species left? Surely there is enough room 
for a variety of life if for no other reason than to break the monotony. 
Aldo Leopold said: “We grieve only for what we know.” Surely we all 
recognize the fact that “beauty is in the eyes and ears of the beholder.” 
Do we want to ignore the beauty all around us? What kind of a world 
does man want? 
We cannot as conservationists sit idly by and watch the bulldozer, 
the chain saw, the concrete slab and asphalt parking lot take over America. 
It is our obligation to see to it that idle acres in out-of-the-way places are 
set aside to preserve little islands of wilderness before it is too late. 
