THE WOOD- WREN 39 



the care of the mother bird, and retired to the 

 boughs of an alder overlooking his home. There, 

 as the sun, from the far entrance to the gorge, 

 flooded the valley with a glory of yellow light, 

 the willow-wren, abandoning for a brief interval 

 his search for flies, poured forth an incessant 

 stream of subdued, delightful melody. The call, 

 heu-whee, heu-whee, of the wood-wren, though 

 almost similar to that of the willow-wren, was 

 slightly fuller and sweeter in tone ; and whereas 

 the willow-wrens exchanged greetings when in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of their nest, the 

 hen wood-warbler, on visiting her treasures, 

 seldom made response to the notes of her spouse. 

 Gradually, taught by experience, the wood- 

 wrens decided that the strange being who took 

 such evident interest in their doings meant no 

 harm, and so they reHnquished much of their 

 caution, till, one afternoon, the little ones, now 

 almost ready to fly, were unexpectedly taken 

 by the intruder from the nest and placed in a 

 group on an arching branch of the broom. Some- 

 thing, of a peculiar shape, stood before the spray, 

 mounted on three long pieces of wood, and 

 covered with a black cloth, beneath which, now 

 and again, the naturalist disappeared, before 

 finally he moved to the side of the cloth and 

 pressed a ball which he held in his hand. Im- 

 mediately afterwards, the fledglings were safely 



