94 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



" On the 23rd of April a Willow Wren came on board 

 a vessel eighty miles from Malta, and fifty from Cape 

 Passaro, the nearest land. Two days later another 

 alighted on the rigging sixty miles from Calabria, and 

 135 from Mount Etna. On the i6th of April, eighty 

 miles from Zante, and 130 from Navarino, a Willow 

 Wren and a Chiff-chaff were found dead on board, 

 presumably from exhaustion, as they were apparently 

 uninjured." 



I was, when a boy, for a long time unable to identify 

 this pretty little bird ; for, judging from the plates in 

 works on ornithology, I expected it to be a much 

 greener bird than it really is. To most observers it 

 seems to be rather brownish on the back, with a pale 

 breast, merging into silver lower down. The green is, 

 however, as before remarked, very apparent in the 

 Wood Warbler. 



The nest is always made upon the ground, and 

 usually in thick grass ; it is invariably lined with 

 feathers, whereas the nest of the Wood Warbler is 

 lined with grass and hair ; both nests are domed. The 

 eggs, from five to seven in number, are white, speckled 

 with rust-colour. 



CHIFF-CHAFF. 



Phylloscopus colly bita; Becfin vttoce; Weiden Laubvogel ; 

 Tjif Tjaf (Dutch). 



Sallypecker ; Lesser Pettychaps ; Least Willow Wren. 



Bill, legs, and toes, dark brown ; upper plumage, dark 

 olive-green ; faint streak over the eye ; chin, throat, and 

 breast, dull white. Length, four inches and a half. 



