CHATS, ROBINS AND WARBLERS 33 



and found it, packed with fully-fledged 

 young ones. 



Chiffchaffs never stay with us, though they 

 are to be found only a few miles away, but I 

 sometimes see them and hear their well- 

 known note in spring and autumn for a day 

 or two. 



Willow-warblers abound (" Peggy white- 

 throat " is the Cheshire name), and it is a 

 delight to catch for the first time each spring 

 their lovely little song, of which, unlike the 

 wearisome iteration of the chiffchaff, one 

 never tires. The American naturalist, John 

 Burroughs, describes the willow-warbler's 

 strain as the most melodious he heard in 

 England, and the only one exhibiting the 

 best qualities of American songsters. He 

 adds : " It is too fine for the ordinary English 

 ear ! " As if on a visit of a few weeks to a 

 strange country he could possibly know what 

 most English people either thought or liked ! 



Willow-wrens as a rule keep pretty high 

 up in the trees, but one sometimes sees them 

 on the grass picking up flies or flying up 

 after them in the air. Later on in summer 

 they hunt for insects in the kitchen garden, 

 and are often to be seen running up and 

 down the pea-sticks. 



Though silent in July, they sing again after 

 the middle of August. I have known a 

 willow-wren's nest here in the middle of a 

 roughish piece of ground that was continually 



