436 BRITISH BIRDS. 
Phylloscopus brehmi, Homeyer, Erinn. Vers. deutschl. Orn. 1870, p. 48. 
Phylloscopus abyssinicus, Blanf. Geol. § Zool. Abyss. p. 378, pl. iii. fig. 2 (1870). 
Phyllopneuste brehmi (Homeyer), Proc. Zool. Soc, 1872, p. 25. 
Phyllopneuste tristrami, Brookes, fide Dresser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1872, p. 25. 
Phylloscopus collybita (Vieill.), Newton, ed. Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 437 (1878). 
Phyllopseuste rufa (Bechst.), Gieb. Thes. Orn. iii. p. 120 (1877). 
The Chiffchaff, though it has a much more restricted range than the 
Willow-Wren, and is seldom so abundant, is nevertheless a common bird 
in most parts of England and Wales. In Scotland and Ireland it is said 
to be more local, but has undoubtedly occurred in most counties, including 
the Orkneys, the Shetland Isles, and the Hebrides. In most of the 
southern counties of England it is a somewhat commoner species than 
the Willow-Wren; but in Yorkshire, though common enough, it is rare in 
comparison with the abundance of the latter bird. 
On the continent the Chiffchaff does not range quite up to the Arctic 
circle. In Norway and Sweden it is rarely found above lat. 65°. It is not 
uncommon in Finland, and occurs in Russia up to Archangel and the main 
valley of the Volga. In the valleys of the Petchora and the Kama, and 
east of the Ural mountains, the Chiffchaff is replaced by the Siberian 
Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus tristis). The Chiffchaff breeds in Transylvania ; 
but in South Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey it appears to be princi- 
pally known in spring and autumn on migration, instances of its breeding 
or wintering in these districts being noted as very exceptional. In Persia, 
Asia Minor, Palestine, and Greece it is aregular winter visitor. In Spain, 
the south of France, and Italy the Chiffchaff may almost be considered a 
resident. It is undoubtedly so on the Canary Islands; but in South-west 
Europe it is more probable that the birds are migratory, but that in this 
region the summer and winter ranges overlap. The Chiffchaff is a regular 
winter visitor to North and North-east Africa as far south as Abyssinia, 
but it has not been known to remain in any part of the mainland to breed. 
Occasionally individuals have been known to winter in the south of 
England, and in mild seasons even in North Germany. 
It is very doubtful if Linnzeus distinguished between the three Willow- 
Wrens. He was probably but very little of a field-ornithologist, and not 
much acquainted with the songs of birds. In the ‘ Fauna Suecica’ and in 
the tenth edition of the ‘ Systema Nature’ he appears to have distinguished 
the Chiffchaff under the name of Motacilla acredula; but in the twelfth 
edition he degraded it to the rank of a variety of the Willow-Wren. Gil- 
bert White, in his charming ‘ Natural History of Selborne, seems to have 
been the first naturalist to clearly discriminate between the three species ; 
and in 1768 he announced his discovery to Pennant; but the bookmaker 
does not seem to have believed the story of the field-naturalist, and in 1776 
Pennant’s ‘ British Zoology’ records the ‘‘ Yellow Wren” only. It seems 
