THE WILLOW-WARBLERS. 2O0 



more olive-brown above than the adults, and entirely yellow 

 below. Before the first autumn moult the colour is a dull 

 olive-brown above, the throat and breast dingy ashy-brown ; 

 the abdomen white, with a wash of sulphur-yellow in the 

 middle; the feet very pale. 



Winter Plumage. — The adults in winter have the plumage very 

 like that of the spring, but rather more yellow. 



Note. — The Willow-Warbler is easily distinguished from the Wood- 

 Warbler by its smaller size and duller coloration. The third and fourth 

 primaries are the longest quills, and the second primary is intermediate 

 between the fifth and sixth. It is with the Chiffchaff that the Willow- 

 Warbler is often confounded, but, as will be seen below, the wing of the 

 Chiffchaff is much more rounded, and the proportion of the quills is quite 

 different. In the Willow-Warbler the wing is much more pointed, as befits 

 a bird of such extended migration. The feet are also much paler in the 

 Willow- Warbler than in the Chiffchaff. 



Range in Great Britain. — A summer visitor to nearly every por- 

 tion of the British Islands, though somewhat local in the west 

 of England and parts of Wales. It is only known as a straggler 

 in the Orkneys and Shetland Isles. It arrives in England about 

 the beginning of April, and departs in September. 



Range outside the British Islands. — Occurs in nearly every part 

 of Europe, but in many countries only on migration. Its 

 breeding range extends to the extreme north of Scandinavia, 

 and in the valleys of the Petchora and the Yenesei Mr. See- 

 bohm found the species up to 70^ N. lat. In the northern 

 countries of Europe it breeds, but chiefly in the mountains, 

 and is decidedly local, while for its eastern range Dr. Pleske 

 gives ample data to show that it nests in most of the provinces 

 of Russia, and even in the Caucasus and the isolated woods of 

 the Kirghis-steppes. The principal winter home of the Willow- 

 Warbler is Africa, where it is found not only on the west coast 

 but also in South Africa down to the Cape Colony itself. It 

 occurs in most collections from the Transvaal, and it is also 

 met with in Damara Land during the cold season in the north. 

 It is even said to winter in some of the Mediterranean countries, 

 and certainly does so in the oases of the Sahara. 



Habits. — Although the Willow- Warbler is frequently noticed 

 in the woods, especially on its first arrival in spring, it is by no 

 means so exclusively a denizen of them as the Wood- Warbler. 

 1 p 



