SYLVIADZ. Lid 
April. Yarrell says it is to be found in greater num- 
bers and more generally dispersed than either the 
Wood Warbler or the Chiffchaff: this is not quite 
the case in my own immediate neighbourhood, for 
here the Chiffchaff is the commoner bird, although 
the nest of the present species being the easier 
to find, its eggs are more common in collections. 
Though a summer visitor, and not a very early one, 
it would appear, from a note in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 
1866, that this little bird does occasionally remain 
with us during the winter; but its occurrence during 
that season is very rare. 
Lhe food of the Willow Warbler is entirely con- 
fined to flies and other sorts of insects. I have 
often watched a pair of old birds feeding their 
young: the food brought always appeared to be 
either flies or caterpillars, especially the small green 
caterpillars. Yarrell says, “This bird does not eat 
fruit, and when seen in the garden should be allowed 
to remain unmolested, as one of the gardener’s best 
friends, from the number of insects it consumes 
daily.” The gardener, however, constantly con- 
founds it with the much-abused Whitethroat, and it 
suffers accordingly. 
Lhe nest of the Willow Warbler is placed on the 
ground in some open plantation, or frequently in an 
orchard, generally under cover of a tuft of long 
grass or weeds: it is covered over, a hole only 
being left for the entrance of the parent birds: it 
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