ve just come up from taking their morning bath and are going to
sing a while before going to work on their nests.

You see I say nests. That is a strange thing about the Wrens, they build
several nests. I wonder if you can tell why they do this. If you can't,
ask your teacher about it.

It is a little too early in the season or I would have one of the nests
in the picture for you to look at.

I will try to describe it to you, so that you will know it when you see
it. These little Wrens make their nests of coarse grasses, reed stalks,
and such things, lined with fine grasses. It is round like a ball, or
nearly so, and has the opening in the side. They fasten them to the
reeds and bushes.

If you wish to get acquainted with these birds, you must visit the tall
grasses and cat-tails along rivers and creeks and in marshes.

You won't have to let them know that you are coming; they will see you
long before you see them, and from their little nests they will begin to
scold you, for fear that you mean to do them harm.

When they see that you mean them no harm, they will begin to entertain
you with their songs. Oh, how they do sing! It just seems as though they
would burst with song.

You can see how happy the one is in the picture. The other little fellow
will soon take his turn. See how straight he holds his tail up. Find out
all you can about these Wrens. You notice they have long bills. We call
them Long-billed Marsh Wrens. There are several other kinds. You surely
must have seen their cousins, the House Wrens. I will show you their
pictures some day.

THE ARIZONA GREEN JAY.

The geographical range of the Arizona Jay is in southern New Mexico and
Arizona and south into Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. It is a common
resident throughout the oak belt which generally fringes the foothills
of the mountains and ranges well up among the pines. In suitable
localities it is very abundant. It is rarely seen at any distance out of
the arid plains; but after the breeding season is over, small flocks are
sometimes met with among the shrubbery of the few water courses, several
miles away from their regular habitat. They are seen in the early
Spring, evidently on a raid for eggs and the young of smaller birds. On
such occasions they are very silent, and their presence is only betrayed
by the scoldings they receive from other birds. On their own heath they
are as noisy as any of our Jays, and apparently far more sociable, a