Wilson furnishes us with the following anecdotes of this little
favorite:--
"In the month of June, a mower once hung up his coat under a shed in
the barn: two or three days elapsed before he had occasion to put it on
again. When he did so, on thrusting his arm into the sleeve, he found
it completely filled with rubbish, as he expressed it, and, on
extracting the whole mass, found it to be the nest of a wren,
completely finished, and lined with a large quantity of feathers. In
his retreat he was followed by the forlorn little proprietors, who
scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining the whole economy of
their household affairs."
"A box fitted up in the window of a room where I slept, was taken
possession of by a pair of wrens. Already the nest was built, and two
eggs laid; when one day, the window being open as well as the room
door, the female wren, venturing too far into the room, was sprung upon
by grimalkin, and instantly destroyed. Curious to know how the survivor
would demean himself, I watched him carefully for several days. At
first he sang with great vivacity for an hour or so; but, becoming
uneasy, went off for half an hour. On his return, he chanted again as
before, went to the top of the house, stable, and weeping willow, that
his mate might hear him; but seeing no appearance of her, he returned
once more, visited the nest, ventured cautiously into the window, gazed
about with suspicious looks, his voice sinking into a low, melancholy
note, as he stretched his neck in every direction.
"Returning to the box, he seemed for some minutes at a loss what to do,
and soon went off, as I thought altogether, for I saw no more of him
that day. Towards the afternoon of the second day, he again made his
appearance, accompanied with a new female, who seemed exceedingly
timorous and shy, and after great hesitation entered the box. At this
moment, the little widower and bridegroom seemed as if he would warble
out his very life with ecstasy of joy. After remaining about half a
minute inside, they began to carry out the eggs, feathers, and some of
the sticks, supplying the place of the two latter with materials of the
same sort, and ultimately succeeded in raising a brood of seven young
ones, all of whom escaped in safety."