WARBLERS 125 



the highlands of Scotland and the forests of Sweden. In some parts of England it 

 is fairly abundant, in Sweden it is rare, in Norway and Holland it is never seen. 

 It straggles to Archangel, ranges as far east as Kazan, passes through Greece, Asia 

 Minor, and Palestine on migration, and winters in Abyssinia and the Gold 

 Coast. In colour it is yellowish green above, with a bright yellow eye-stripe, 

 and a dark streak through the eyes to the ear-coverts. Below it is white, the 

 sides of the breast as well as the front part of the neck being yellowish. The 

 wings are greyish brown edged with yellow, the secondaries having whitish tips. 

 The nest of the wood-wren is situated on the ground, and half-domed, as in the 

 warblers generally, but may be identified by not containing feathers. This 

 warbler is a brisk and cheery bird, although cautious and easily alarmed. It feeds 

 on flies caught on the wing, small caterpillars, and other insects ; in the late 

 summer adding berries and similar fruits to its diet. Its favourite haunt is 

 among boughs of medium height, whence it dashes out at its prey like a flycatcher, 

 or flutters to a neighbouring bush to search both surfaces of the leaves. The song is 

 a jarring trill, ending in a sweet flute-like tremolo, which seems to require consider- 

 able effort, if we may judge by the way the throat is distended, the wings hung 

 down, and the crest raised. Sometimes the song is begun on the wing and finished 

 on a tree, but it is invariably delightful. 



„ While the wood - wren is a bird of the beeches, the willow- 



Willow-Wren. 



wren (P. irochilus) is a denizen of the birches, and it is distributed 



over Europe and the greater part of western Asia, so far as the valley of the 

 Yenesei. Arriving in the middle of April, it begins to leave for the south in 

 August, and visiting on migration Persia, Asia Minor, and Greece, it winters in 

 Africa on the west coast and as far south as Cape Colony. It is not quite such 

 a forest-bird as the wood-warbler, but is generally found where there is plenty of 

 underwood, large and small, either in the forest, or in parks and shrubberies, 

 suburban and otherwise. Its name of willow-wren seems to have been given, 

 not from its nesting among willows, but from its frequently seeking on these trees 

 the flies and other insects, etc., upon which it feeds. It is about 5 inches long, 

 or a quarter of an inch shorter than the wood-wren, from which it is dis- 

 tinguished by having its five outer primaries notched, by its darker green back, 

 and its greenish eye-stripe. The pointed wings distinguish it readily from the 

 chiff-chaff. The nest is placed amid the densest shrubs on the ground, and is 

 therefore difficult to find ; a projecting tuft of grass often forms the roof, and the 

 entrance is so small that the eggs are not visible from outside. The nest is always 

 lined with feathers, frequently those of the partridge. The willow-wren is a 

 bolder bird than the last, quite as cheery and more restless, with a characteristic 

 habit of jerking its tail up and down. As a rule, it is by no means shy, but when 

 nesting it is easily frightened by an approaching intruder. It is a persistent 

 songster, and repeats the sweet descending scale of its simple melody from 

 morning till night. 



The chiff-chaff (P. rufus) generally nests in hedges at no great 



distance above the ground, in the " balks " dividing ploughed fields, or 



in solitary bushes, where these are thick and thorny : it rears two broods a year, 



and feeds on insects and their larvae and berries. In disposition it is a livelier and 



