COVERT WARBLERS 93 



inches. No wonder that the natives on the 

 borders of Surrey have christened this bird the 

 " fuz-wren." When his haunts are invaded, or 

 the little fellow thinks that they are in danger 

 of being so, his excitement is something to look 

 at. He is all fuss and flutter; darting out of 

 the furze and hanging over it, with his tail 

 feathers spread out and his crest raised, he 

 chatters out his Cha-che-che-che, Cha-cha- che- 

 che-cha, as fast as he can get it out. Speci- 

 mens of the birds I could have had very 

 frequently, as well as their nests and eggs ; but 

 I do not collect or procure specimens of any 

 wild creature for others, nor will I give the 

 exact directions of the localities I wander over 

 at times, for very good reasons. 



Old locks and miles of water-meadows are 

 close to the fuz-wren's haunts. All our water 

 traffic is not yet done with, for sleepy barges 

 still come from below, out of the west, into the 

 river Wey. 



It is a wild district, and to a great extent a 

 lonely one : wild ducks and teals spring from 

 bogs and waters now as they did in Gilbert 

 White's time, although lines of railways cut 

 through the country. With the exception of 

 the red-deer these are gone wild life remains 



