SONG-BIRDS. Wren-
“ There is a little bird that sings —- Sweetheart — sweetheart — sweet ! "
without knowing that it was the Carolina. Wren, whose notes his accurate ear interpreted in syllables.
House Wren: Troglodytes a'édon.
Pure 15. FIG. 1.
Length: 4.50-5.25 inches. Male and Female : Dark brown above, minutely barred with blackish.
Under parts gray with brownish wash and faint bandings. Fairly long tail. Bill black above, lower mandible light; feet
brown.
Song : A merry roulade, sudden, abruptly ended and frequently repeated.
Season: Middle of April to October.
Breeds: Locally through range. Frequently rears three broods a season. '
Nest : A loose heap of sticks with a ' 3ft lining, in holes, boxes, etc.
Eggs .- 6—10, cream-colour, so thick ,‘ spotted with brown that the whole egg is tinged.
Range: Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to Indiana. and Louisiana.
The House \Vren is a bird who has allowed the word male to be obliterated from its social constitution at least. We always speak of Jenny W'ren; always refer to the “hen as she, as we do of a ship. It is Johnny Wren who sings and disports himself generally, but it is Jenny, who, by dint of much fussing and scolding, keeps herself well to the front. She chooses the building-site and settles all the little domestic details. If Johnny does not like her choice, he may go away and stay away; she will remain where she has taken up her abode and make a second matrimonial venture. In fact, a little exhibition of independence of this kind took place in our barnyard last spring.
Jenny makes herself as much at home about the wood- shed and outhouses as the mouse does in the granary, and when she slips in and out of the woodpile she seems like a
mouse masquerading in feathers. Raise her suspicious or 83
