156 BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



minutes, and then returned. The male 

 had ceased his song, and the female was 

 not to be seen. I stalked silently up to 

 the spot where I thought the nest ought 

 to be, struck the grass with my stick, 

 and the bird flew up almost from my 

 feet. Parting the grass aside, I saw the 

 most cunningly concealed nest, well domed 

 over at the top, and with a very small 

 entrance. On opening this, five big open 

 beaks greeted me, and the mother called 

 me a lot of names from a branch close 

 by. It is remarkable how bold these 

 small birds are. I have had the Willow- 

 Wren fly right at me ; it spread its wings, 

 opened its beak and hissed at me, and 

 even tried to do damage by inflicting 

 some tiny pecks. If only some of the 

 larger birds were as bold as the small 

 Warblers it would be impossible to get 

 near their nests. 



I built my hiding place near by, and 

 the next day went inside with my camera 



