THE CHIFF-CHAFF. 



Fain would I now, in rival gold 

 His slender form attired, behold 

 The willow-haunting Wren, and hear 

 His plaintive wood-notes, warbled clear 

 As on the breath of morning floats 

 The music of his hymn-like notes. 



53 



CHIFF-CHAFF. 



THE SHORT-WINGED WILLOW WREN (Phyllopneuste hip- 

 polais), sometimes called the Chiff-chaff, or Lesser Petty- 

 chaps, Chip-chop, or Hay-bird. Closely resembling the 

 Willow Wren in form and colour, and nearly equalling it 

 in size, this lively little songster may be distinguished by 

 the comparative shortness of its wings. It is one of the 

 first Warblers that visits us in spring, and is welcomed as a 

 harbinger of the season of song and sunshine. It has been 

 seen here as early as the 12th of March, and attracted 

 attention by its sprightly actions and double call, most 

 resembling the two syllables chiff-chaff, from which its 

 common name is derived. On the first arrival of these 

 birds they are said to feed on the larvae of various species 

 of moths, which are rolled up in the expanding buds of 

 trees, and which, if not destroyed, would do much to blight 

 the cultivator's hopes of a good fruit crop. When the 

 weather is mild and fine, the hardy little birds may be seen 

 among the most forward trees of the orchard, flying from 



