All the children, it seems to me, are familiar with the habits of Johnny
and Jenny Wren; and many of them, especially such as have had some
experience with country life, could themselves tell a story of these
mites of birds. Mr. F. Saunders tells one: "Perhaps you may think the
Wren is so small a bird he cannot sing much of a song, but he can. The
way we first began to notice him was by seeing our pet cat jumping about
the yard, dodging first one way and then another, then darting up a
tree; looking surprised, and disappointingly jumping down again.
"Pussy had found a new play-mate, for the little Wren evidently thought
it great fun to fly down just in front of her and dart away before she
could reach him, leading her from one spot to another, hovering above
her head, chattering to her all the time, and at last flying up far out
of her reach. This he repeated day after day, for some time, seeming to
enjoy the fun of disappointing her so nicely and easily. But after a
while the little fellow thought he would like a play-mate nearer his own
size, and went off to find one. But he came back all alone, and perched
himself on the very tip-top of a lightning-rod on a high barn at the
back of the yard; and there he would sing his sweet little trilling
song, hour after hour, hardly stopping long enough to find food for his
meals. We wondered that he did not grow tired of it. For about a week we
watched him closely, and one day I came running into the house to tell
the rest of the family with surprise and delight that our little Wren
knew what he was about, for with his winning song he had called a mate
to him. He led her to the tree where he had played with pussy, and they
began building a nest; but pussy watched then as well as we, and meant
to have her revenge upon him yet, so she sprang into the tree, tore the
nest to pieces, and tried to catch Jenny. The birds rebuilt their nest
three times, and finally we came to their rescue and placed a box in a
safe place under the eaves of the house, and Mr. Wren with his keen,
shrewd eyes, soon saw and appropriated it. There they stayed and raised
a pretty family of birdies; and I hope he taught them, as he did me, a
lesson in perseverance I'll never forget."
[Illustration: From col. F. M. Woodruff.
RUBY-THROATED HUMMING BIRDS.
Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.]
[Illustration: From col. F. M. Woodruff.
HOUSE WREN.
Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.]