232 BIRDS AND MAN 



feathers at a spring-time gathering ; the yellow- 

 green, long-winged wood wren, most aerial and 

 delicate of the woodland warblers ; the kingfisher, 

 flashing torquoise blue as he speeds by ; the elegant 

 fawn-coloured, black- bearded tit, cHnging to the 

 grey-green, swaying reeds, and springing from them 

 with a bell-like note ; and the rose-tinted narrow- 

 shaped bottle-tit as he drifts by overhead in a 

 flock ; the bright, lively goldfinch scattering the 

 silvery thistle-down on the air ; the crossbill, that 

 quaint little many-coloured parrot of the north, 

 feeding on a pine-cone ; the grey wagtail exhibiting 

 his graceful motions ; and the golden- crested wren, 

 seen suspended motionless with swiftly vibrating 

 wings above his mate concealed among the clustering 

 leaves, in appearance a great green hawk-moth, his 

 opened and flattened crest a shining, flame-coloured 

 disc or shield on his head, — when I consider all 

 these, and others, I find that the peculiar charm of 

 each does not exceed in degree that of the furze 

 wren — seen at his best. He is of the type of the 

 white-throat, but idealised ; the familiar brown, 

 excitable Sylvia, pretty as he is and welcome to 

 our hedges in April, is in appearance but a rough 

 study for the smaller, more delicately-fashioned 

 and richly-coloured Melizophilus, or furze-lover. On 



