Willow- Warbler and Chiff-Chaff. 45 



Gardens, before we reach the Museum, we are 

 certain on any tolerably warm day to hear the 

 Willow-warbler, which has been the last few 

 years extremely abundant ; in Oxford alone there 

 must have been two or three hundred pairs in 

 the spring of 1885. From the same trees is also 

 pretty sure to come ringing the two notes of the 

 Chiff-chaff, which is a less abundant bird, but 

 one that makes its presence more obvious. Let 

 us pause here a moment to make our ideas clear 

 about these two. We may justly take them first, 

 as they are the earliest of their group to arrive 

 in England. 



When the first balmy breath of spring brings 

 the celandines into bloom on the hedge-bank, and 

 when the sweet violets and primroses are begin- 

 ning to feel the warmth of the sun, you may 

 always look out for the Chiff-chaff on the sheltered 

 side of a wood or coppice. As a rule, I see them 

 before I hear them ; if they come with an east 

 wind, they doubtless feel chilly for a day or two, 

 or miss the plentiful supply of food which is abso- 

 lutely necessary to a bird in full song. Thus in 

 1884, I noted March 20 as the first day on which 



