THE WOOD-WREN 29 



detected a nest wherein might be obtained a 

 delicious supper of eggs, he sniffed the air re- 

 peatedly. But his attention was diverted by the 

 same owl that had frightened the cock warbler 

 just after arriving on the Island, and he scurried 

 away to shelter beneath the hawthorns. One 

 night, just as the eggs, grown heavy, were about 

 to be hatched, an otter trod on the edge of the 

 nest. The hen warbler was crouching asleep 

 in the far corner beneath the dome. Awakened 

 and panic-sfcricken by the rude intrusion, she 

 scrambled out and flew for safety to the nearest 

 furze-brake. But before the eggs had become 

 perilously cool, the dawn, lightening the east, 

 enabled the mother-bird to see that no harm had 

 been done, and that the way was clear for her to 

 return home. Night brought with it many un- 

 pleasant surprises, but by day nothing startling 

 occurred ; the keeper across the river had freed 

 the island from hawks, jays, and carrion crows. 

 The warblers became, however, increasingly 

 anxious as the eggs gave signs of hatching. 

 Even the usual intervals of leisure, spent by 

 them together at evening in the tree-tops, were 

 shortened. The time of courtship — ^that holiday 

 season of freedom and delight, when the hen 

 bird, fascinated yet reluctant, was wont to 

 watch her mate as he hovered for a moment 

 overhead, and dropped on upturned wings to- 



