46 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
the Chiffchaff predominates, but in the surrounding 
cultivated districts the Willow Wren is the commoner 
species. The Chiffchaff only occurs sparingly in the 
Hill Country; and in the wooded valley of the Goyt 
above Taxal, where the conditions are apparently suited 
to its habits, it is very rare. 
The Chitfchaff is our earliest spring visitor, arriving 
in the north of the county with great regularity about 
the last day of March. The characteristic song, from 
which the bird derives its name, continues through 
June, and we have heard it as late as July 30th, 
although Mr. Howard Saunders states that the bird 
ceases to sing in May. The Chiffchaff sings again 
after the moult in August, but always in a lower key. 
WILLOW WREN. 
PHYLLOSCOPUS TROCHILUS (Linnzus). 
Peggy Whitethroat, White Wren, Ground Wren. 
Arriving about ten days later than the Chiffchaff, 
the Willow Wren is found abundantly throughout the 
county, being far more plentiful than any of the other 
Warblers. No sound is more familiar during the 
summer months, in our woods and thickets, than the 
simple but inexpressibly sweet song of this bird. 
Unlike the Chiffchaff, the Willow Wren is abundant 
in the lanes and hedgerows of the open country, and 
is even found sparingly in the treeless cloughs of 
Longdendale and the hills between the valleys of 
the Goyt and Dane. Mr. N. Neave informs us that 
he has found the nest amongst the heather on the 
1 Saunders, op. cit. p. 68. 
