CHIFFCHAFF. 



PASSE RES. 



437 



SYLVIIDA. 



PHYLLOSCOPUS COLLYBITA (Vieillot*). 



THE CHIFFCHAFF. 



Sylvia rufa\. 



WITH the exception of the Wheatear the Chiffchaff is 

 the first of the Warblers that visit us in spring, if indeed 

 it ever entirely leaves this island, and by its sprightly ac- 

 tions, as well as its oft-repeated double-note, from which 

 it derives its name, is always a welcome visitor as a 

 harbinger of returning fine weather. This hardy little 

 bird, the existence of which was first shewn by White of 

 Selborne, is not uncommonly seen as early as the middle 

 of March, and towards the end of that month occurs pretty 

 generally, so that it is commonly heard in the woods before 

 the trees are in leaf to hide it. On its first arrival it is 

 said to feed chiefly on the larvae of the different species of 

 Tortrix that are rolled up in the unfolding buds, rendering 



* Sylvia collybita, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat, Nouv. lM. xi. p. 235 

 (1817). 



f Not Motacilla rufa, Boddaert, nor M. rufa, J. F. Gmelin. 



