4 BIRDS AND MAN 



book ; but on this particular occasion while 

 watching my bird I saw it in a new and un- 

 expected aspect, and in my surprise and delight 

 I exclaimed mentally, "Now I have seen the 

 furze wren at his very best ! " 



It was perhaps a very rare thing — one of 

 those effects of light on plumage which we are 

 accustomed to see in birds that have glossed 

 metaUic feathers, and, more rarely, in other 

 kinds. Thus the turtle-dove when flying from 

 the spectator with a strong sunlight on its upper 

 plumage sometimes, at a distance of two to three 

 hundred yards, appears of a shining whiteness. 



I had been watching the birds for a couple of 

 hours, sitting quite still on a tuft of heather 

 among the furze-bushes, and at intervals they 

 came to me, impelled by curiosity and solicitude, 

 their nests being near, but, ever restless, they 

 would never remain more than a few seconds at 

 a time in sight. The prettiest and the boldest 

 was a male, and it was this bird that in the end 

 flew to a bush within twelve yards of where I sat, 

 and perching on a spray about on a level with 

 my eyes exhibited himself to me in his character- 

 istic manner, the long tail raised, crest erect, 



