102 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



in wooded country, and being exceedingly restless and constantly on 

 the move, they do not easily escape notice. Their call note is a 

 simple " zeet-zeet." Their song in spring is said to be soft and 

 pleasing. The nest of B. ignicapillu^, as above mentioned, resembles 

 that of R. cristatus, being generally built of moss, plentifully lined 

 with feathers, and placed at the extremity of a branch. The eggs, 

 however, of which as many as ten are sometimes laid, differ from 

 those of B. cristatus in being redder, the ground colour being 

 pinkish-white minutely spotted with reddish-brown. 



PHYLLOSCOPUS RUFUS (Bechstein). 

 CHIFFCHAFP. 



Sylvia rufa, Bechstein, Orn. Taschcub, i, p. 188 {nee Bodcl), 1802 ; 



Mallierbe, Faune Ornith. de I'Alg. p. 13 (1855). 

 Phylloscopus rufus, Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mm. v, p. 60; Wliitaker, 



Ibis, 1895, p. 95; Erlangar, J.f. 0. 1899, p. 258. 

 Phyllopneuste rufa, Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 253 (1867) ; 



Koemg, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 192 ; id. J.f. 0. 1892, p. 390. 



Description.— Adult male, spring, from Gafsa, South Tunisia. 



Above olive-green, darker on the crown, and lighter on the rump; quills 

 and tail pale brown ; supercihary stripe yellowish, becoming lighter over 

 the ear-coverts ; underparts whitish, tinged with yellowish-green ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries bright yellow. 



Iris dark hazel ; bill and feet dark greyish-brown. 



Total length i inches, wing 2-30, culmen -35, tarsus -70. 



Adult female resembles the male, but is slightly smaller. 



Observatio7is.— The Chiffchaff may be distinguished from the Willow- 

 Wren by its smaller size, slightly duller coloration, darker coloured feet, and 

 more rounded wing, the formula of which also differs from that of the 

 WiUow-Wreu, its second primary quill being shorter than the sixth, and 

 about equal to the seventh. 



The Chiffchaff is a common winter migrant in Tunisia, arriving in 

 the late autumn, and leaving again on the approach of spring. I know 

 of no instance of this little Warbler breeding in the Eegency, but as 

 the species breeds in some parts of Southern Europe, it may possibly 



