NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 47 
swoln like those of a gouty man. After harvest J have shot them 
before the pointers in turnip-fields. 
I make no doubt but there are three species of the willow-wrens ; * 
two I know perfectly, but have not been able yet to procure the third. 
No two birds can differ more in their notes, and that constantly, 
than those two that I am acquainted with; for the one has a joyous, 
easy, laughing note, the other a harsh loud chirp. The former is 
every way larger, and three-quarters of an inch longer, and weighs 
two drams and a half, while the latter weighs but two; so the 
songster is one-fifth heavier than the chirper. The chirper (being 
the first summer-bird of passage that is heard, the wryneck 
sometimes excepted) begins his two notes in the middle of March, 
and continues them through the spring and summer till the end of 
August, as appears by my journals. The legs of the larger of these 
two are flesh-coloured; of the less black. 
The grasshopper-lark began his sibilous note in my fields last 
Saturday. Nothing can be more amusing than the whisper of this 
little bird, which seems to be close by though at an hundred yards 
distance ; and, when close at your ear, is scarce any louder than 
when a great way off. Had I not been a little acquainted with 
insects, and known that the grasshopper kind is not yet hatched, I 
should have hardly believed but that it had been a Zocusta whisper- 
ing in the bushes. The country people laugh when you tell them 
that it isthenote of a bird. It is a most artful creature, sculking in 
* There are just three of the British warblers which are liable to be confoundea with 
one another; at the same time they are very distinct, and a little attention to their habits 
alone would easily distinguish them. They are— 
The Woop-Wrew, or warbler, Sylvia sibilatriz, referred to before at page 29. In its 
habits it is distinguished by frequenting old woods, being very partial to those of oak, and 
being seldom seen among low or young plantations like the next. Mr. Selby writes, ‘‘ In 
a living state, it is easily recognised by its peculiar song, which resembles the word Zwee, 
repeated twice or thrice rather slowly, concluding with the same notes hurriedly delivered, 
and accompanied by a singular shake of the wings.” In form this is the largest species, 
it has a bright yellow eye-streak, and the upper parts have a tint of sulphur-yellow, 
wanting in the others. The belly and under tail-covers are pure white. 
The WILLow-WREN, or warbler, Sylvia trochilus, Selby, is one of our most common 
and generally distributed warblers ; it is also one of our earliest sylvan visitants, appearing 
almost with the first leaves of spring, and frequenting young woods and plantations. It 
has a lively but limited song of a few notes, which is constantly repeated. In size it nearly 
equals that of the wood-warbler. The streak over the eye is indistinct, the upper plumage 
is of an oil-green or brownish tint, and the upper parts are tinted with yellow, particularly 
the under tail-covers. 
The Cu1rr-CHAFF warbler or Lesser Pettychaps, Sylvia hippolais, is very common in 
the greater part of England, but becomes less common towards the north, and does not 
extend far in that direction. It arrives very early, and is immediately betrayed by its 
peculiar often-repeated note of chif-chaff, which has given to it its provincial name. It 
frequents old woods, as well as others of lower growth. In size it is the least of the three, 
the eye-streak is very indistinct, the upper parts oil-green tinged with grey, and the belly, 
vent, and under tail-covers are primrose-yellow. The legs are blackish brown, whereas 
in the other two they are yellowish-brown. This is the “ chirper.” 
