THE CHIFFCHAFF 
PHY LLOSCOPUS RUFUS 
Loca names in surrounding districts: ‘‘ Oven-builder ”’ 
(Essex). 
Stratus IN British AvirAuNA: A common if somewhat 
local summer visitor to England and Wales ; most abundant 
in the south and west; rarer in Scotland and Ireland. 
RapiaL DistTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Pavut’s: Although the Chiffchaff is almost as widely 
dispersed as the Willow Warbler it seems to be a scarcer 
and more local species in some localities. With this 
exception the distribution of the two species within the 
Metropolitan area is very similar. I do not find it so 
common or so well known in the eastern districts, and 
in the Epping area it is said to be a very local bird. Dur- 
ing the seasons of its migrations it often visits the parks 
and wooded places within a mile or so of St. Paul’s, but it 
probably breeds no nearer than Dulwich, or possibly in 
Battersea Park. Beyond this area it becomes so generally 
distributed in districts where the Willow Warbler is also 
found that it is unnecessary to repeat the list of localities. 
Very probably the two birds are much confused, although 
the very characteristic note of the Chiffchaff and its 
_ partiality for trees should form a ready guide to its correct 
identification. Passing mention may be made of a pair 
of Chiffchaffs that I watched for some time in the tall 
elm-trees in Kensington Gardens on April 13, 1905— 
worth recording as a date of passage. 
Special interest attaches to the Chiffchaff, because it is 
absolutely the first, as it is the smallest, of the Warbler 
band to reach British shores in spring. ‘True, its journey 
may not be a very extensive one, for possibly the south of 
France is the winter home of British individuals, but in any 
case the wild weather of the closing days of March usually 
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