. Our own birds : a familiar natural history of the birds of the United States . theTitmouse and Woodpecker kind that venture to buildwithin its jurisdiction; attacking them without hesi-tation, though twice its size, and generally forcingthem to decamp. I have known him to drive a pairof Swallows from their newly formed nest, and take THE GREAT CAROLINA WREN 109 immediate possession of the premises, in which hisfemale also laid her eggs, and reared her the Bluebird, who claims an equal and sort ofhereditary right to the box in the garden, when at-tacked by this little impertinent,
. Our own birds : a familiar natural history of the birds of the United States . theTitmouse and Woodpecker kind that venture to buildwithin its jurisdiction; attacking them without hesi-tation, though twice its size, and generally forcingthem to decamp. I have known him to drive a pairof Swallows from their newly formed nest, and take THE GREAT CAROLINA WREN 109 immediate possession of the premises, in which hisfemale also laid her eggs, and reared her the Bluebird, who claims an equal and sort ofhereditary right to the box in the garden, when at-tacked by this little impertinent, soon relinquishesthe contest, the mild placidness of his disposition notbeing a match for the fiery impetuosity of his littleantagonist. With those of his own species who settleand build near him, he has frequent squabbles; andwhen their respective females are sitting, each strainshis whole powers of song to excel the other. The Great CarolinaWren and the Win-ter Wren are also,both of them, lovelyand interesting former frequentsthe banks of streams,shaded by thickly. overhanging foliage,where it may be dis-tinguished by itsclear, musical note,resembling the wordsSweet William, SweetWilliam, uttered inrapid succession, with an occasional inter- Great Carolina Wren. lude of Chirr-up, Chirr-up. It may also be foundfrequenting damp rocky caves, and among old pilesof rotten timber, where it picks up the larvae of many10 e 110 INSESSORES. a hurtful insect. The Winter Wren visits us itPennsylvania from the north, just as the House Wrenhas left us for its tropical home. It sometimes passesthe entire winter in the Middle States, where it maybe seen hopping about the wood-piles and the fallenand decayed trunks of trees, with its tail erect, busy-ing itself in singing its musical ditty, and pickingup the bugs that may be lurking in the crevices ofthe bark. It disappears again early in Spring, andpasses to the northward in company with the SnowBirds. The Titmouse, likeits cousin
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1879
