State Normal School, Kutztown, Pa.
For a number of years a crested flycatcher has built his nest in a
hole in an apple tree in my yard, about twenty feet from a house
constructed for the habitation of the wrens. Jenny usually showed no
animosity toward her neighbor; but one spring, while nest-building was
in progress, she suddenly seemed to have decided that the flycatcher's
abode was in too close proximity to her own domicile and deliberately
invaded the flycatcher's domains and dumped the materials of his nest
on the walk beneath the tree. When the flycatcher returned the air was
filled with his protests, while the wren saucily and defiantly answered
him from the roof of her own dwelling. The flycatcher immediately
proceeded to build anew, but before he had fairly commenced, the
pugnacious wren made another raid and despoiled his nest again. This
happened a third time; then the flycatcher and his mate took turns
in watching and building. While one went out in search of building
material the other remained on guard just inside the door. The
situation now became exceedingly interesting, and at times ludicrous.
Jenny Wren is a born fighter, and can whip most birds twice her size,
but she seemed to consider the flycatcher more than a match for her.
The first few times after the flycatcher made it his business to stay
on guard, the wren would fly boldly to the opening, but would flee
just as precipitately on the appearance of the enemy from the inside.
After each retreat there was a great deal of threatening, scolding,
and parleying, and Jenny several times seemed fairly beside herself
with rage, while the flycatcher coolly whistled his challenge on the
other side of the line of neutrality. The wren now adopted different
strategy. She flew to the tree from a point where the flycatcher could
not see her, then hurried along the limb in which the flycatcher lay
concealed and circled around the hole, all the time endeavoring to take
a peep on the inside without herself being observed, in the vain hope
that her enemy might not be at home. Suddenly there would be a flutter
of wings and a brown streak through the air, followed by another as the
flycatcher, shot like a bullet from the opening in the tree; but the
active marauder was safely hidden amid the grapevines, and the baffled
flycatcher returned to his picket line, hurling back epithets and
telling Jenny that he would surely catch her next time. In this manner
the strife continued for several days. Then a truce seemed to have been
arranged. Certainly the flycatcher was still on guard, but the wrens
went about their work and did not molest the flycatchers except at long
intervals. I thought the flycatchers had conquered; but one morning
when I came out, there on the walk were three broken, brown-penciled
eggs, nest, snakeskin, and all. The flycatcher had put too much trust
in the wren's unconcernedness, and came back to find himself once more
without a nest. But Jenny seemed to have desired only one more stroke
of revenge, and the flycatchers finally succeeded in raising their
family in front of the home of Jenny Wren.
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| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. |
| |
| Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant |
| form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. |
| |
| Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. |
| |
| Mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved between paragraphs |
| and some illustrations have been moved closer to the text that |
| references them. |
| |
| Italicized words are surrounded by underline characters, |
| _like this_. |
| |
| The Contents table was added by the transcriber. |
| |
| The chapter on "An Abandonned Home" is continued in |
| Vol. V., No. 5, page 198. |
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