CHIFP CHAFF. 



half in breadth, white with a few specks of dark purplish 

 red. 



As this little bird is one of the first to arrive here in 

 the spring, so is it also one of the last to leave us in au- 

 tumn, and it is frequently heard and seen as late as the 

 middle of October. Montagu states in his Supplement 

 that he saw this species several times in the winters of 

 1806 and 1808 in Devonshire ; and Mr. Neville Wood, as 

 mentioned by Mr. Hewitson, has heard its note as early 

 as the 5th of February ; but on the occurrence of an un- 

 usually late spring, the song was not heard by the same 

 gentleman in the north of England till the 21st of April. 



Mr. Sweet says, " The ChiiF Chaff is easily taken in a 

 trap, and soon becomes tame in confinement. One that 

 he caught was so familiar as to take a fly from his fingers ; 

 it also learned to drink milk out of a tea-spoon, of which 

 it was so fond that it would fly after it all round the 

 room, and perch on the hand that held it, without show- 

 ing the least symptom of fear; it would also fly up to 

 the ceiling, and bring down a fly in its beak every time." 



The Chin Chaff is nowhere so abundant as the Willow 

 Warbler ; it is, however, found, though few in number, 

 in all the southern counties from Sussex to Cornwall and 

 Wales ; but Mr. Thompson sends me word it is not so 

 abundant in Ireland as /Sylvia trochilus. It is found in 

 Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Westmoreland, York- 

 shire, Durham, and Northumberland ; but further to the 

 north in this country I am unable to trace it. Mr. Hewit- 

 son noticed it in Norway; and on the European Conti- 

 nent, in summer, it is generally distributed to the shores 

 of the Mediterranean, and is even common in Italy in 

 winter. It is found at Corfu, Sicily, and Malta, and was 

 also seen by Mr. Strickland at Smyrna in November. 



VOL. i. z 



