THE FURZE-WREN 173 



was a joyful moment, a discovery wholly unexpected, 

 as I had previously explored that part and found 

 nothing. It was in a spot where the furze grew in a 

 dense thicket, four to six or seven feet high, and cover- 

 ing three to four acres of ground. As a rule the bird 

 prefers a sparser growth with open spaces among the 

 bushes. 



My bird soon vanished and refused to come out 

 again. Something better followed ; fifty yards further 

 on a second bird appeared and perched on a bush 

 began to sing, allowing me to approach to within 

 twenty yards of him. He too then dived down into 

 the thicket and was seen no more. I went home with 

 that small song in me, but did not attempt to describe 

 it, as I wished first to hear it again more freely and fully 

 uttered. 



Next day I found no fewer than nine pairs, all living 

 and breeding near together, at that one point in the 

 vast dense thicket. Outside it was all empty and 

 barren ; just there the little living gems sparkled in 

 profusion. But how melancholy to think that any 

 cunning scoundrel hired by a private collector, or the 

 keeper of a bird-stuffer's shop who calls himself 

 " Naturalist," might appear any moment with an air- 

 gun and extirpate the whole colony in the course of 

 a morning ! 



I found that my best time to observe these birds 

 was about five o'clock in the morning, when they are 

 most excitable and vocal. I would then sometimes 

 have two, at times three, pairs about me, flitting hither 



