114 BIRDS AND MAN 



— one bright evening in early May, at Netley Abbey. 

 But the poet's name had meanwhile slipped out of 

 memory ; nothing but a vague impression remained 

 (and still persists) that he flourished and had great 

 fame about the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, and that now his (or her) fame and works 

 are covered with oblivion. 



To return to the subject of this paper : the wood 

 wren — the secret of its charm. We see that, tried 

 by ordinary standards, many other singers are 

 its superiors ; what, then, is the mysterious some- 

 thing in its music that makes it to some of us 

 even better than the best ? Speaking for myself, 

 I should say because it is more harmonious, or in 

 more perfect accord with the nature amid which 

 it is heard ; it is the truer woodland voice. 



The chaffinch as a rule sings in open woods and 

 orchards and groves when there is light and life 

 and movement ; but sometimes in the heart of a 

 deep wood the silence is broken by its sudden 

 loud lyric : it is unexpected and sounds unfamiliar 

 in such a scene ; the wonderfully joyous ringing 

 notes are like a sudden flood of sunshine in a shady 

 place. The sound is intensely distinct and in- 

 dividual, in sharp contrast to the low forest tones : 

 its effect on the ear is similar to that produced 



