176 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



world over all, in fact, that do not sing in a leisurely 

 manner, or, like the throstle and nightingale, with 

 frequent pauses. But chains differ in form ; so with 

 these chains of sound of the rapid singers : in some the 

 links (otherwise, the notes) may be seen and distin- 

 guished as separate parts of the piece. In the furze- 

 wren it is not so ; the excessive rapidity with which the 

 notes are emitted and repeated makes the performance 

 more like a close-woven cord than a chain, and, to 

 continue the metaphor, we may see it as a black or 

 grey cord, set and sparkling with loose thread-ends of 

 silver, gold and scarlet. The black or sombre cord 

 represents the low chiding or buzzing sound, the 

 brilliant threads the bright, shrill and delicate 

 sounds. 



The furze-wren is one of our minor songsters, rank- 

 ing with the stonechat, dunnock, redstart, and lesser 

 whitethroat. Its chief interest is its originality its 

 unlikeness to that of any other singer. This makes it 

 difficult to describe, since we cannot convey an impres- 

 sion of a bird sound or song except by likening it to 

 other well-known sounds or songs. Our ornithologists, 

 who have written about the bird for the last century 

 and a half, have not attempted to describe its song. 

 I remember that I once asked the late Howard Saunders 

 why this was so, and his reply was that the furze-wren 

 has such a curious little jiggy song that you couldn't 

 describe it. Of course one can describe the song of 

 any unhuman being, from a shrill insect to an angel, 

 but the sad truth of the matter is that the impression 



