THE FURZE-WREN 169 



cycling in the south country, and when going by a side- 

 road at the edge of a wide heath or moor caught sight 

 of a pair flitting among some furze bushes. He had 

 never previously seen the bird, but I was satisfied that 

 he was right in his identification — that he was about 

 the last man to make a mistake in such a matter. I 

 may add that this same keen observer is not known to 

 me personally; we correspond, and having the same 

 feeling about birds are naturally friends. He is one of 

 those strange but not very uncommon persons who lead 

 a double life. To some of us he is known as an ornith- 

 ologist; to the theatre-going public he is a finished 

 actor, and those who know him only in his impersona- 

 tions would, I imagine, hear with surprise, perhaps 

 incredulity, that, off the boards, he is a haunter of 

 silent, solitary places where birds inhabit, that in these 

 communings he has a joy with which the playgoer in- 

 termeddleth not. 



The heath was a ver^' extensive one, covering an area 

 of several square miles, and it was not strange that 

 when I searched the spot he had described I failed to 

 find the birds. I then set patiently and methodically 

 to work to search the furzy places, especially where the 

 growth was thickest, in other parts, and after two entire 

 days spent in this quest I began to fear I was not going 

 to find them after all. But I had spent so many days 

 and weeks on former occasions in searching for this 

 same most elusive little creature in eight or nine other 

 spots where I have found him in the south and west 

 country, and knew his hiding habits so well, that I still 



