so OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



mined area of the Inter-Tropical Realm. Throuc^h- 

 OLit this vast area it everywhere appears to be an 

 exceptionally common bird. 



The Willow Warbler is one of the earliest 

 migrants to reach our shores in spring, and this 

 fact in itself is one that endears the bird to us and 

 makes it an object of special admiration. We notice 

 the charming fairy-like little creature back in its old 

 haunts very often during the first week of April, 

 especially in the southern counties of England — in 

 the very vanguard of the advancing army of migrant 

 birds, almost simultaneously with the Wheatear, and 

 the Chiffchaff. It is a little later in the northern 

 districts ; but during six years' observation of its 

 arrival in South Devon we find the dates to vary 

 from the 7th to the 15th of April. The Willow 

 Warbler may be heard and seen almost everywhere, 

 from the suburban garden, the London park, or the 

 town pleasure-ground, to the moors and upland 

 wilds. It, however, prefers hedges, gardens, planta- 

 tions and orchards, to woods, but is not averse to 

 trees as well as the lower kinds of vegetation. 

 Another thing that renders the Willow Warbler so 

 attractive is its fearless ways, its habit of courting 

 notice. It is no skulking creature like the Blackcap 

 or Garden Warbler ; it seems to invite observation, 

 and is one of the most trustful and least suspicious 

 of all our smaller wild birds. How can we describe 

 the feeling of pleasure we experience at seeing the 



