52 



TH.E CHIFF-CHAFF. 



Heads of Arbour Bird. 



Heads of the Yellow Bird from Mr. Blyth's specimens. 



THE CHIFF-CHAFF (Trochilus rufa, RENNIE). 



Motacilla rufa, Gmel. i. 2. p. 955. No. 63 ; Curruca rufa, Briss. i. 418; Sylvia 

 rufa, Latham, Ind. ii. 519. sp. 27 ; Rufous Warbler, Lath. Syn. iv. 431. Gen. Hist, 

 vii. 40; Bee-fin veloce, Temminck, Man. i. 225; Weiden Zeisig, Bechst. Staub. 

 p. 617. Naturgesch. iii. 29; Wtiden Sanger, Naumann, Vbg. t. 35. fig. 75: 

 Sylvia collybita, Vieillot ; Silvia veloce, Ranzani, Elem. iii. v. p. 102; S. rufa, 

 Ruppel, MS. Mus. Frankfort ; Chiff Chaff, Bewick, i. 258 ; Least Willow Wren, 16. 

 i. 259. ; Sylvia loquax, Herbert, White's Selb. 8vo. p. 55, note. 



This, and the gold-crested wren, are the smallest of our native birds, 

 and hence it is the more surprising that it came to be confounded with 

 the preceding. 



The full grown male has the bill a third of an inch in length, very 

 narrow and pointed, of a blackish brown, except at the edges and 

 within, where it is yellow. The iris is dusky brown. From the base 

 of the bill, on each side, there runs a narrow yellowish white streak, 

 and there is another straight streak of a dusky yellow over the eye. 

 The sides of the head are of a very clear brown. The upper part of 

 the head, neck, and back, are greyish brown, with a slight tinge 

 of olive. The wings and tail are greyish brown, with the outer 

 edgings of the plumelets olive grey. The under coverts, and shoulders 

 of the wings, a clear yellow, which is not seen in the least when the 

 wing is closed. The throat is greyish white; the breast, light grey, 

 with a very pale tinge of red, or rather rust brown. The belly is 

 greyish white, with faint yellowish streaks; the under tail coverts 

 yellowish white. The feet are blackish brown, and two thirds of an 

 inch high. The whole length is about four inches and a third, or a 

 trifle more. The tail is one inch and three fourths. 



The female and the young males, before the first moult, have the 

 upper parts of a clear olive green, and under parts reddish white. 



