upper parts, and brownish-buff under-parts, coupled with its 
shy, retiring disposition make it exceedingly difficult to see. 
Three other tantalizing little members of this numerous tribe 
are the chiffchaff, willow-warbler, and wood-warbler. Tantalizing 
because so frequently seen during the summer months, so much 
alike, and yet, somehow, different. The novice has no name for 
them; the expert can only tell them by a combination of 
characters, and their contrasts. He is guided rather by their 
notes and habits, than by their appearance, so closely do they 
resemble one another! The chiffchaff, as its name suggests, 
is to be identified by its song—Chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff, 
chiff-chaff-chiff—uttered from the top of a high tree. The singer 
is too small to be seen, so that he who would discover what manner 
of bird is the songster, must watch in the direction of the sound, 
till the singer elects to descend. The willow-warbler is a rather 
larger bird with a tinge of yellow in his plumage. Also it is less 
restricted to woods and coppices, and has a sweet, indescribable 
warble. The wood-warbler is the largest of this trio—from the 
tip of his beak to the tip of his tail he may measure as much as 
five inches—and is also the most brightly coloured. Above he 
is greenish, with an eyebrow of sulphur-yellow, and a sulphur- 
yellow breast and throat. Since he is rarely to be found, save in 
woods of beech and oak, he will, on this account, the more easily 
be distinguished from his cousin, the chiff-chaff and the willow- 
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