Carol Barton Age 8. Of Greendale, Mo., for her question:

What is a cactus wren?

The desert of our southwest looks like a lonely place. But the ground is peopled with lizards and handsome snakes. There are squirrels and jack rabbits howling coyotes and furry badgers. There are countless insects and some whopping spiders. So the desert is far from deserted. Many birds also make their homes here and one of them is the sassy cactus wren.

To most peoples the desert cactus plants are prickly enemies. We learn to stay clear of them or we get scratched on their spiny thorns. But to the cactus wrens the prickly cactus is a friend. This pert little bird uses the branches of the Cholla Cactus as a home, the sharp white prickles that grow from the green stems serve to keep enemies from his nest.

The cactus wren is covered completely with speckles and freckles of brown and blacks tan and pearly gray. He is much larger than his small cousin: the house wren.  But like all the wrens he is a chunky bird with. Shorts rounded wings. He has a sharp beak suitable for catching insects and devouring caterpillars. As a rule., he carries his slender tail upright., which gives him a pert and sassy look.

This wren of the desert is seven inches long., as big as a starling. He is  the biggest member of the wren family and has the honor of being the state bird of Arizona., where he makes his home. And his home is a large round nest built of twigs, lined with grasses and feathers and set among the prickles of a desert cactus. The nest is also used as a shelter to protect the wren from his enemies and to shade him from the desert sunshine. He may have a nest in several different cactus plants.

Insects., caterpillars and whopping spiders are plentiful in the dry, warm desert. So the cactus wren never runs short of foods which perhaps is why he is such a large and healthy wren. But he also has enemies lots of enemies to watch. On the ground. He may be grabbed by a snakes a bobcat or a hungry fox. The golden eagle may swoop down upon him from the airy and even a small sparrow hawk may diva down to attack him. When danger threatens the perky wren hops into his nest and lets the prickly cactus protect him.

The sassy .looking cactus wren has a sassy sounding song. He chirps and Chug chug chugs and makes a great noise. Sometimes he sings a duet with his lady friend.  As a singers he cannot compete with the warbling threshers that live in the desert or with the larks that rise caroling into the desert air. The fluty song of the Phainopepla and the cooing of the mourning dove are also more pleasant desert songs than the piercing prattle of the cactus wren.