loo THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Family TURDID.^. Genus Phylloscopus. 



Sub-family SYLVIINyE. 



CHIFFCHAFF. 



Phylloscopus rufus i^Bechsteiii). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, April, May, and June. 



British breeding area : The ChiffchafT is fairly 

 well distributed over England and Wales, most abun- 

 dant in the southern and midland counties, becoming 

 rarer and more local northwards. In Scotland and the 

 north of England it is nothing near so common as the 

 Willow Wren, but certainly appears to extend as far as 

 Ross-shire. Its breeding area in Ireland is very imper- 

 fectly known, but the bird is certainly more local than 

 in England. 



Breeding habits : The Chififchaff is a summer 

 migrant, reaching our shores in March and April. The 

 haunts of this species are woods, plantations, and cop- 

 pices, tall hedgerows and orchards, whence throughout 

 the spring the monotonous song or chiff-cJiaff of the 

 male is almost incessantly sounding. The Chififchaff 

 may pair annually, although there is some evidence to 

 suggest that certain spots are visited by certain birds 

 each season. The nest is either built on the ground or, 

 more generally, from a few inches to a few feet above it. 

 It is placed amongst tall, rank vegetation, growing in 

 the woods or by the hedge-side, in ivy, either growing 

 up a tree or wall, and least frequently of all in a bush or 

 mass of brambles. The nest of the Chiffchaff is oval 

 and semi-domed, the hole admitting the parents being 

 on the side near the top. It is made externally of dry 

 grass, dead leaves, and scraps of moss, and lined with a 

 little horsehair and even roots, and a large quantity of 

 feathers. The Chiffchaff is a close sitter, and when 



