(BROWN HOUSE-WREN.)
+Troglodytes furvus+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 158
(Conchitas); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 7; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1876, p.
157, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), p. 167 (Buenos Ayres), 1878, p. 392
(Central Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 593 (Buenos
Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 36 (Azul, R.
Colorado, R. Negro). +Troglodytes platensis+, _Burm. La-Plata
Reise_, ii. p. 476; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 86
(Concepcion). +Troglodytes musculus+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ vi. p.
255.
_Description._--Above brown; the tail-feathers and outer webs of
wing-feathers pencilled with dark wavy lines; beneath very pale
brown; bill and feet horn-colour; eye brown: total length 4·8
inches, wing 2·0, tail 1·7. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ South America.
The common Argentine Wren is to all English residents the "House-Wren,"
and is considered to be identical with the species familiar to them in
their own country. It is a sprightly little bird, of a uniform brown
colour and a cheerful melodious voice; a tireless hunter after small
spiders and caterpillars in hedges, gardens, and outhouses, where it
explores every dark hole and cranny, hopping briskly about with tail
erect, and dropping frequent little curtsies; always prompt to scold an
intruder with great emphasis; a great hater of cats.
It was my belief at one time that the Wren was one of the little birds
a cat never could catch; but later on I discovered that this was a
mistake. At my home on the pampas we once had a large yellow tom cat
exceedingly dexterous in catching small birds; he did not, however, eat
them himself, but used to bring them into the house for the other cats.
Two or three times a day he would appear with a bird, which he would
drop at the door, then utter a loud mew very well understood by the
other cats, for they would all fly to the spot in great haste, and
the first to arrive would get the bird. At one time I noticed that he
brought in a Wren almost every day, and, curious to know how he managed
to capture so clever a bird, I watched him. His method was to go out
into the grounds frequented by Wrens, and seat himself conspicuously
amongst the weeds or bushes; and then, after the first burst of alarm
had subsided amongst the small birds, one or two Wrens would always take
on themselves the task of dislodging him, or, at all events, of making
his position a very uncomfortable one. The cat would sit perfectly
motionless, apparently not noticing them at all, and by-and-by this
stolid demeanour would have its effect, and one of the Wrens, growing
bolder, would extend his dashing little incursions to within a few
inches of pussy's demure face; then at last, swift as lightning, would
come the stroke of a paw, and the little brown body would drop down with
the merry brave little spirit gone from it.
The House-Wren is widely distributed in South America, from the tropical
forests to the cold uplands of Patagonia, and, possessing a greater
adaptiveness than most species, it inhabits every kind of country, moist
or dry, and is as much at home on lofty mountains and stony places as in
the everglades of the Plata, where it frequents the reed-beds and damp
forests. About houses they are always to be found; and though the
traveller on the desert pampas might easily imagine that there are no
Wrens in the giant grasses, if he makes himself a lodge in this lonely
region, a Wren will immediately appear to make its nest in his thatch
and cheer him with its song.
Even in large towns they are common, and I always remember one flying
into a church in Buenos Ayres one Sunday, and, during the whole
sermon-time, pouring out its bright lyric strains from its perch high
up somewhere in the ornamental wood-work of the roof.
The Wren sings all summer, and also on bright days in winter. The song
is not unlike that of the English House-Wren, having the same gushing
character, the notes being strong and clear, and uttered with rapidity
and precision; but the Argentine bird has greater sweetness and more
power.
In spring the male courts his mate with notes high and piercing as
the squeals of a young mouse; these he repeats with great rapidity,
fluttering his wings all the time like a moth, and at intervals breaking
out into song.
The nest is made in a dark hole in a wall or tree, sometimes in the
forsaken domed nest of some other bird; and where such sites are not to
be found, in a dense thistle or thorn-bush, or in a large tussock of
grass. I have also found nests in dry skulls of cows and horses, in an
old boot, in the sleeve of an old coat left hanging on a _fence_, in a
large-necked bottle, and in various other curious situations. The nest
is built of sticks and lined with horse-hair or feathers, and the eggs
are usually nine in number, of a pinkish ground-colour, thickly spotted
with pale red.