Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-06-03

paused. exhausted, he alone scared on
ward and upward; till at length, rest
ing on his outspread wings, at dizzy
height he screamed in triumph: ~
birds. behold your Kingr'
.Behold him, indeed" cried tiny
voice at his ear. "But not in you,
clumsy fellow!'' And the wren, who
had been perched all the while, unseen
| and unnoticed, on the eagles shoulder.
now boldly took fight, and twitted
| and chirped from still greater height;
while the weary eagle, unable to soar
higher, beat his broad wings in anger
and disappointment So the wren was
proclaimed King of all birds, and re-
mains so to this day; and it is very
pretty story, whether you believe 1t or
not.
Now, let us look at this sasucy little
King, and see what he is like. lie IS
about four inches long, of rich red
dish-brown color; and he has q saucy
little cocked-up tail, and knowing
black eyes, and very sweet voice.
which says very impudent things;
He is always gay and CHEEKY, and
sings as merrily on cold day as on a
warm one; this is a good point in any
King. He builds his own palace, and
a very fine one it is for its size, beng
made very neatly of leaves, moss and
grass, and having always a dome,
which covers it completely, the open
ing of the nest being always at the
side King Wren prefers this domed
nest to any other; first, because 1t IS
more lofty, and, second, because
it protects the royal eggs from colo
and rain. But sometimes he chooses
the strangest place for his nest. A
wren's nest has been found IN the body
of dead hawk, which had been killed
and nailed to the side Of barn, to
brighten other hawks
Once a farmer had killed calf, and
hung its body on a tree ct seems
singular thing to hang calf on a tree
as if he were horse-thief; but that Is
the way l heard the story.) Some
days after, when the farmer cut the
calf down in order to cut it up, he
found wren's nest in its throat.
Again, / have heard of little Queen
Wren, who made her nest inside
pump, and went in and out through
tie spout to attend to her natural du-
tieb. .sWhat did she do when they
were pumping water?' Why, 1 sup
pose she waited until they stopped,
don It you2 At least that's what should
have done in her case. When winter
comes the little wrens areputto all sorts
of shifts to keep themselves warm.
Sometimes, in very cold weather. they
may be found all huddled together
in heaps, six or seven of them united,
looking like masses OF soft brown
feathers. Sometimes they get into
their summer nests, the whole family,
parents and children, crowding into
the little hollow under the dome
Once fine lady, who was very fond
of birds, and used to scatter crumbs
for them in her garden every day in
cold weather, happened to see party
of wrens 90 to bed; and this is how
they did it. They gathered together
on large branch of tree, about four
inches above which grew another
branch. On the lower branch the
wrens packed themselves, comfortably
together, three or four Deep. the top
most bird always having his little
brown back pressed against the upper
branch, as if to keep the whole pile
steady. The lady pitied the poor,
shivering little creatures, and the next
day she nailed to the branch a square
box, lined with flannel, with a very
small round hole by way of door.
When the wrens came to gOto bed
they examined the box, and soon
seemed to understand all about it, for
they crowded in eagerly, ;ostiing each
other in their hurry to get into the fine
new bedroom. The next night there
were more of them, and more and
more, till at last more than forty
wrens would crowd into the box, which
did not seem big enough to hold more
than half that number. just think!
Forty Kings and Queens, all IN one
palace! What proud lady she must
have been!-LaurG E. Richards, in
Our Little Ones.