PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 13 



Cornwall and records of its presence on the east coast are decidedly few. Those that 

 reach this country appear to be merely stragglers that have probably migrated in 

 company with gold-crests, for out of 70 gold-crests taken in the North Sea on one 

 occasion 5 proved to belong to the present species (Gurney, Zoologist, 1888, p. 225). 

 No large rush of this species has ever been recorded, nor is there any evidence of a 

 return migration in spring, though it has been taken in this country as late as 

 April 9. [j. L. B.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Does not breed in the British Isles. 



5. Food. Insects. [E. L. T.] 



6. Song Period. Does not appear to be recorded. [E. L. T.] 



CHIFFCHAFF [Phylloscopus collybita collybita (Vieillot). P. rufus (Bechst.). 

 Chip-chop, choice-and-cheap, featherpoke. French, bee-fin veloce ; German, 

 Zilpzalp, Weiden-Laubvogel ; Italian, lui piccolo.] 



1. Description. The chiffchaff bears a close resemblance to the willow-wren, 

 from which, however, it may be distinguished by the fact that the outer margins of 

 the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries are emarginate, and the legs are blackish 

 brown. (No plate.) The sexes are alike. Length 4'6 in. [117 mm.]. After the autumn 

 moult the upper parts are olive-brown, slightly lighter and more yellow on the rump. 

 The sides of the head are olive-buff, relieved by a paler superciliary stripe tinged 

 with yellow above the eye. The wings and tail are greyish brown, each feather 

 edged with olive-green, but the inner secondaries are broadly margined with olive- 

 green. The under parts are whitish, the throat, neck, chest, and flanks tinged with 

 a rich, warm buff, most conspicuous on the flanks, which have pale, but well-defined 

 longitudinal stripes of sulphur-yellow. The abdomen is pure white, but the under 

 tail-coverts are yellow. In the spring the plumage is somewhat green above, and 

 paler below. In the juvenile plumage the upper parts are of a dull grey, slightly 

 lighter and more olive on the rump and upper tail-coverts, while the wing and tail 

 feathers have margins of olive-yellow. The throat is whitish washed with olive- 

 yellow, the chest is dull olive-grey, and the flanks and abdomen are white, but the 

 under tail-coverts are yellowish buff. The yellow tones in plumage of the young 

 bird are particularly vivid at the time it quits the nest and especially so on the 

 under parts, but soon after this hue is greatly reduced, [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. This species has a wide breeding range, being found 

 throughout the European continent and Western temperate Asia. It is, how- 

 ever, divided into several local races, of which the present is the Western form, 



