552 Migration of the Chiffchaff. 



jority certainly do not come over till April, when the song 

 pettychaps also arrives in abundance. In the Field Naturalist's 

 Magazine, there is a case recorded of this latter species staying 

 the winter in one of the western counties : I have heard it 

 sing weakly in November. Those chifFchaffs which are heard 

 previously to the month of March have, undoubtedly, passed 

 the winter with us ; but their number is extremely few, or 

 their notes could not escape observation ; all the sylviadous 

 birds being in full song long before their arrival in their sum- 

 mer haunts. I cannot consider, too, the dark-legged petty- 

 chaps to be so shy a species as Mr. Wood describes it, more 

 particularly at a time when the woods are bare of leaves. 

 Even in summer it is much less hideling than the blackcap and 

 other fauvets. When not in song, it has a weak faint chirp, 

 a sort of wit, wit, which it, indeed, has in common with the 

 warbling species. Occasionally, this is also heard in summer. 

 I have noticed that it affects hilly districts more than the song 

 pettychaps; whereas the latter is much more abundant in 

 valleys: neither of them, however, being at all confined to 

 their respective localities. There is a peculiarity in the song 

 of the dark-legged pettychaps, which does not appear to have 

 been generally noticed : its common note, tick tack, is known 

 to all ; but, after repeating this seven or eight times in mono- 

 tonous succession, it frequently alternates it with another 

 sound, resembling crah crah, or cruk ; reminding one of the 

 harsh tones of the Salicariae, or reedlings. The reason that 

 this is so overlooked is, that it sounds so very different, that 

 few could imagine that it proceeds from the same bird : in- 

 deed, it generally seems to come from another direction. This, 

 also, is repeated several times in succession, and then the 

 common note is resumed without stopping. Both the dark- 

 legged and song pettychaps are very quarrelsome little birds ; 

 a trait of character which I have never noticed in the S. sibi- 

 lans. In autumn, the young will frequently take their stand 

 on an old pollard, to watch for passing insects, and will dart 

 at and attack much larger birds that venture within their 

 domain. Last spring, I was walking under some tall elms, 

 from the top of which a chiffchaff was, at intervals, repeating 

 his double cry. A large common, overspread with furze, lay 

 in one direction, where thousands of the song pettychaps 

 were warbling merrily. At length, one of these settled on a 

 bush close under the trees, and began to sing; whereupon 

 down came the little chiffchaff from above, and I witnessed 

 a long-sustained battle between the two, both warbling their 

 diverse notes in defiance, and by turns attacking and pursuing 

 each other. Each, indeed, seemed to consider the other an an- 



