

THE FURZE-WREN. 



being generally known. I have occasionally 

 met with clever ornithologists, who have never 

 seen it : the more extraordinary, as it is a fre- 

 quenter of almost every district where furze- 

 bushes grow. Bewick places it next the night- 

 ingale, from which I infer, he thought its habits 

 similar to that bird; they are, however, very dif- 

 ferent. I have paid considerable attention to 

 these little warblers, and consider them decidedly 

 a species of wren. Their manner of flight, gene- 

 ral motions, and great propensity for concealment, 

 are all indicative of their relation to that family, 

 but they do not flirt their tails quite so much as 

 the wrens. They are so dark in colour, as to 

 appear almost black when flying. The Dartford 

 warbler, or furze-wren, as I would willingly call 

 it, is so peculiar in evading sight, that although 

 common in this neighbourhood, (the Sussex bor- 

 der of Surrey,) I have often been in pursuit of 

 them for many successive months, without get- 

 ting sight of a single bird; yet I have seldom 

 been disappointed of seeing them, when hunting 

 the furze for rabbits with beagles. These little 

 dogs disturb them more than anything else. I 

 have often tried beating the furze with a large 

 stick, when I knew they were in the bushes, but 

 could scarcely ever get them out that way. On 

 the Brighton downs, where the groups of furze in 



