84 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



whether they would be easy to distinguish or not. A few seconds were suffi- 

 cient to decide the point. The curious song and shimmering flight at once 

 attracted the attention, while the greenish hue and broad yellow margins 

 of the tertiaries made identification easy as soon as a nearer view was 

 obtained. The first pair I saw were quite low down on small silver birches, 

 but they are more often to be found in the beech and oak trees, dropping 

 down with characteristic flight from the higher to the lower branches, some- 

 times even into a holly bush, but seldom, if ever, descending to the ground 

 unless actually engaged in nest-building. The Wood-Wren is a most 

 delightful little bird. Arriving late as it does about the first week in May 

 it is seen when the spring foliage is at its best, and the New Forest has 

 few more attractive sights to offer than these Ashurst glades, dotted here 

 and there with bluebells and primroses, and above them the little Wood- 

 Wren sporting amidst the delicate greenery of the budding trees. One 

 other note that may be heard in this neighbourhood is that of the Wryneck, 

 but the bird is now becoming more and more scarce, and is far less frequent 

 than the Nuthatch. 



South of Ashurst Lodge we come to that brown expanse of moorland 

 called Matley Bog. On the heath itself, not very far from Lyndhurst Golf 

 Links, I once saw two Hen-Harriers fluttering along at a safe distance from 

 bush' to bush, the light grey plumage of the male showing up well against 

 the dark background of faded heather. They kept about one hundred yards 

 off, and it seemed utterly impossible to get nearer. An alder brake in the 

 centre of the bog is in spring the resort of a regular army of Warblers, 

 which can be heard singing in every tree. I have, however, never come 

 upon anything rarer than a Blackcap, though I once nearly trod upon a 

 semi-albino Woodcock as it crouched in some dry leaves at the foot of a 

 bush. The alders are very suggestive of Siskins, and, as Wise mentions 

 them as occasional visitors to the Forest, they are probably to be found 

 here at times. He speaks also of Dartford Warblers being observed amongst 

 the Whinchats on Lyndhurst Heath, but the heath is now but sparsely covered 

 with furze bushes, and though, with a bird of such skulking habits, certainty 

 as to its absence is unattainable, I am inclined to think that the Dartfords 

 have long since disappeared. If the explorer on his return to Lyndhurst Road 

 finds that he has still some time to wait for his train, a visit to Costicle's 

 Pond would be a good way of winding up the day. The pond lies a short 

 distance down one of the woodland rides on the north side of the road. 

 It is overgrown with herbage, but has the appearance of a good place, and 

 one can well imagine some rarity occurring there. The surrounding woods 



