62 IN NATURE'S WAYS 



chimes, which drop down to pianissimo, and are always 

 in harmony. Each chime is about three seconds 

 long, and is repeated at eight-second intervals, hour 

 after hour through May and June days. 



The nest is like a little feather-lined pocket of grass 

 on the ground, domed over, often with moss, wherein 

 are laid six or seven white pink-spotted eggs, very frail. 



While the chiff-chaff is a near cousin of the willow- 

 wren, the same kind of little yellowish-green bird, a 

 haunter of tree-tops, he has the simplest song of all 

 the warblers two notes, uttered in a very spirited way, 

 repeated several times without a pause, and ringing 

 out something like the chime of a distant bell. He 

 sings his own name, " chiff-chaff," with the accent on 

 the chaff. Sometimes it sounds like " chiff-chaff, 

 chivy-chavy, chiff-chaff," as the little bird goes 

 working all over trees and bushes, seeking out cater- 

 pillars, greenfly, flies, moths, and other insects. They 

 are always welcome, these notes, especially when first 

 heard, telling a tale of spring. 



The nest is like the willow-wren's in that it is on the 

 ground, grassy and mossy, warmly lined with feathers 

 partridge feathers are favourites with these birds. 

 Six or seven frail eggs are laid, white, with small 

 spots and dots, greyish red or purplish brown, darker 

 and more distinct than those on the willow-wren's, 

 and often clustered at the thicker end. We sometimes 

 find the nest in clumps of bracken, about two feet from 

 the ground, a very difficult nest to discover, unless 

 the anxious little sitting bird tells of her secret by 

 fluttering away. 



In Gilbert White's day these birds seem to have 

 been little known. The willow- wren he called, " the 

 smallest willow-wren," the chiff-chaff "the chirper"; 

 and as he did not identify them with the Latin names 



