1883-84-] Edmbiirgh Naturalists' Field Club. i/^g 



success, this result being probably aided by the performer's confiding 

 disposition, which demeanour other Warblers do not show to anything 

 like the same extent. It is not by any means a shy bird, but will 

 admit of a near approach, in which respect it differs very markedly 

 from others of the Sylviidffi. In favourable districts during May the 

 woods actually swarm with them ; and if this is the case before nidi- 

 fication, it is trebly so after the labours of incubation are over, when 

 the parents, accompanied by their offspring, hunt the woods for food. 

 At that season, if one only remains quiet in the vicinity of their 

 haunts, he will often be surrounded by whole families so intent upon 

 searching the branches for insects, as, heedless of his presence, to 

 venture within reaching distance, all the while chiri^ing to each other 

 in a low melancholy tone that carries with it a singularly soothing 

 effect. Eoth the Wood and Willow Wrens build their nests on the 

 ground, in form like a dome, with the entrance-hole at the side, a 

 sloping bank being a favourite situation, where the long herbage 

 drooping over forms an excellent screen from the prying eyes of 

 idle boys, whose bu'd-nesting proclivities are too notorious to need 

 comment. 



The Chiff-chaff is almost identical in plumage with the Willow- 

 Wren, but the legs and feet of the former are much darker in colour, 

 which test may be safely applied to dead specimens should any doubt 

 arise in one's mind. As yet I have not been fortunate enough to 

 identify the bird in Mid-Lothian, and have arrived at the conclusion, 

 prematurely perhaps, that it must be very local in its distribution. 

 Our President, Mr Herbert, informs me that he has heard it at Polton, 

 on the I^orth Esk, among the tall Fir-trees there, and more recently 

 on the Water of Leith near Colinton ; but frequent searches on my 

 own part, in the woods contiguous to the South Esk, have not as yet 

 been productive of good results. As a sequel to this remark, the sug- 

 gestion just occurs to my mind, that if those members of our Club 

 who are ornithologically inclined would take notes of all the birds, 

 with locality and date, observed at the outdoor meetings, or on the 

 occasion of any other country excursion they may take independently 

 of the Club, a great deal of interesting material might by that means 

 be gathered, and I feel confident many birds, of whose existence in 

 Mid-Lothian we are unaware, could be added to the list of local fauna. 



The only other bird now to be mentioned is the Grasshopper- 

 Warbler, whose visits to Scotland, like those of angels, are " few and 

 far between " ; but within the last few years several instances of its 

 occurrence have been recorded from time to time. As might be 

 inferred, its name is derived from the song, which is said to resemble . 

 in a measure the chirping of a Grasshopper. 



In conclusion, let us hope that, with the growing taste for Natural 

 History Avhich is undoubtedly extending more widely every year 

 among all classes, our Eield Club will not be behind-hand, but show 



