28 THE WOOD-WREN 



the eggs, or to discuss, in soft twitterings, all 

 kinds of family affairs. 



Strange and wonderful were the doings of the 

 woodland folk around that snuggery in the grass, 

 and many an anxious moment was experienced 

 by the brooding birds. The nest was not so 

 completely domed as the willow-wren's on the 

 far side of the thicket by the river front. The 

 roof was higher, and rather less compact ; and 

 no threshold of twisted grass, as constructed by 

 the smaller bird, lay at the entrance. The little 

 domicile by the side of the grass-tuft might, in 

 fact, have been better concealed. Many an 

 incident that would have passed unnoticed had 

 the warblers built high up in the furze after the 

 manner of their neighbour the greenfinch, gave 

 them serious cause for apprehension. The 

 pheasant, whose nest was in the heart of the 

 copse, sometimes came across the path to an 

 ants' colony about three feet from the nest, and, 

 scratching vigorously in search of the fat pupae 

 nursed within the underground galleries, caused 

 quite a shower of earth and gravel to fall about 

 the warblers' home, so that the little birds every 

 moment feared disaster. 



Once, in the moonlight, a rat from the river- 

 bank stole along the path, and paused for a 

 moment beneath the furze, sitting there on his 

 haunches while, half believing that he had 



