THE CHIFF-CHAFF. 29 



visitant to England, Scotland, and Ireland ; that 

 it is the earliest of the summer warblers to visit 

 us ; and that it remains with us until the first 

 week of September, when it migrates to the 

 south-east to spend the winter in a warmer 

 climate. It appears to be common at that 

 season in Italy, Sicily, the Maltese Islands, and 

 Asia Minor ; and Mr. Blyth has found it as far 

 to the eastward as Calcutta. 



Old English authors, who knew the Garden 

 Warbler as the Greater Pettychaps, gave the 

 Chiff-chaff the name of the Lesser Pettychaps, 

 presumably from its general resemblance to it 

 in miniature. These two names, however, may 

 now be considered as obsolete. 



Whilst on the subject of Willow Warblers, we 

 may refer to the fact that a single example of 

 another species, P. hypolais (vel icterina, the 

 oldest name for it), which is common enough on 

 the other side of the German Ocean, is recorded 

 to have been taken in England, and another in 

 Ireland. The bird is known as the Yellow-billed 

 Chiff-chaff, Melodious Willow Warbler, and 



