"It was a merry time
When Jenny Wren was young,
When prettily she looked,
And sweetly, too, she sung."
"In looking over an old memorandum book the other day," says Col. S. T.
Walker, of Florida, "I came across the following notes concerning the
nesting of the House Wren. I was sick at the time, and watched the whole
proceeding, from the laying of the first stick to the conclusion. The
nest was placed in one of the pigeonholes of my desk, and the birds
effected an entrance to the room through sundry cracks in the log cabin."
Nest begun April 15th.
Nest completed and first egg laid April 27th.
Last egg laid May 3rd.
Began sitting May 4th.
Hatching completed May 18th.
Young began to fly May 27th.
Young left the nest June 1st.
Total time occupied 47 days.
Such is the usual time required for bringing forth a brood of this
species of Wren, which is the best known of the family. In the
Atlantic states it is more numerous than in the far west, where
wooded localities are its chosen haunts, and where it is equally at
home in the cottonwoods of the river valleys, and on the aspens just
below the timber line on lofty mountains.
Mrs. Osgood Wright says very quaintly that the House Wren is a bird
who has allowed the word _male_ to be obliterated from its _social_
constitution at least: that we always speak of Jenny Wren: always refer
to the Wren as _she_ as we do of a ship. That it is Johnny Wren who
sings and disports himself generally, but it is Jenny, who, by dint of
much scolding and fussing, 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.
The House Wren's song is a merry one, sudden, abruptly ended, and
frequently repeated. It is heard from the middle of April to October,
and upon the bird's arrival it at once sets about preparing its nest, a
loose heap of sticks with a soft lining, in holes, boxes, and the like.
From six to ten tiny, cream-colored eggs are laid, so thickly spotted
with brown that the whole egg is tinged.
The House Wren is not only one of our most interesting and familiar
neighbors, but it is useful as an exterminator of insects, upon which it
feeds. Frequently it seizes small butterflies when on the wing. We have
in mind a sick child whose convalescence was hastened and cheered by the
near-by presence of the merry House Wren, which sings its sweet little
trilling song, hour after hour, hardly stopping long enough to find food
for its meals.
[Illustration: From col. J. G. Parker. Jr.
PHOEBE.
Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.]