[Illustration: Illustrated capital N]
Nesting in all sorts of nooks and crannies, the House Wren is easily
satisfied. Moreover, this is often the only desirable species which can
be induced to build in so civilized and restricted a place as a small
city lot. Slab construction may be employed or old weathered boards
used, but new lumber seems nearly or quite as welcome to the wren.
Plate III illustrates a wren house and gives directions for building.
Distance from the ground to the entrance of the house should be from 8
to 18 feet. The place safest from cats is on the side of a building. If
the box is on a tree or wooden post, protection is afforded by a band of
smooth sheet metal such as zinc, 2½ feet high, starting not less than 4
feet from the ground or other point that is within reach of cats.
Two or three wren houses spaced as far apart as the yard or garden
allows will provide for the duplicate, unused, nests which these birds
often build, or for a possible second brood.
_Other Wrens_
For the Bewick's Wren, which commonly nests around gardens, barns, and
dwellings, the building directions are the same as for the House Wren.
The Carolina Wren of the south, more inclined to seek woods and thickets
than to court man's society, is not ordinarily a bird house tenant.
Still, a home like that described for the House Wren, but with the
entrance having a diameter of 1¼ inch, is not unlikely to be selected by
the Carolina if placed in a brushy area frequented by him and not much
frequented by humans.