I 



<,6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



Chiflf Chaff is much shorter and paler. The legs of 

 the Wood Wren and Willow Wren are brownish flesh- 

 colour, while those of the Chiff Chaff are dark brown. 



WILLOW WREN. Phylloscopus trochilus (Linnseus). 

 PI. 8, fig. 7. Length, 5 in. ; wing, 2*6 in. ; tarsus, 

 •75 in. 



A summer migrant, generally distributed, arriv- 

 ing in April and leaving in September. Although 

 difficult to distinguish at a little distance from the 

 Chiff Chaff, which it resembles in general appear- 

 ance, it may be detected by its notes, which are more 

 varied and songlike than the monotonous disyllabic 

 call of the Chiff Chaff, which has obtained for the 

 latter its English name. 



CHIFF CHAFF. Phylloscopus rufus (Bechstein). PI. 8, 

 fig. 8. Length, 4-75 in. ; wing, 2*4 in. ; tarsus, -6 in.- 



A summer migrant, generally distributed, although 

 rare in the north of Scotland. 



Not only is the Wood Wren the largest of the 

 three, but it has comparatively the longest wings 

 and the longest legs. The wings when closed cover 

 three - fourths of the tail. In the Willow Wren, 

 under the same circumstances, less than half the tail 

 is hidden. The Chiff Chaff's wing is still shorter. 

 After examining a large series of these birds, I 

 have come to the conclusion that, as regards the 

 wings, the following formulae may be relied on (the 

 first primary is quite rudimentary, and is therefore 

 not taken into consideration) : — Wood W>en, 2nd 



