98 THE LAND'S END 



him, summer or winter, in town or country, you know 

 that he is a native, that his family is a very old one in 

 that part and was probably settled there before the 

 advent of blue-eyed man and the dawn of a Bronze 

 Age. 



He is universal, and that gives one the idea that 

 he is very evenly distributed ; but I had no sooner 

 set foot in this " westest " part of all England than 

 I found the wren more common than in any other 

 part of the country known to me, and this greatly 

 pleased me because of my love of him. Indeed, it 

 was the prevalence of the wren which made the West 

 Cornwall bird life seem very much to me, despite the 

 fact that the best species have been extirpated or 

 driven away and that no peregrine or chough or 

 hoopoe, or other distinguished feathered stranger, 

 can return to these shores and not be instantly massa- 

 cred by the sportsmen, ornithologists and private 

 collectors. But the common little wren is admired 

 and respected by every one, even by the philistines. 

 It is not that he seeks to ingratiate himself with us 

 like the robin ; he is the very opposite of that 

 friendly little creature, and indeed I like him as much 

 for his independence as for his other sterling quali- 

 ties. You may feed the birds every day in cold 

 weather and have them gather in crowds to gobble up 

 your scraps, but you will not find the wren among 

 them. He doesn't want of your charity, and can get 

 his own living in all seasons and in all places, rough 

 or smooth, as you will find if you walk round the 

 coast from St. Ives to Land's End or to Mount's Bay. 



