WILLOW WARBLER OR WREN. 15 



Haunts. Woods and well-timbered districts. 



Plumage. Pale yellow superciliary streak over eye. Lores 

 olive ; upper parts olive-green. Breast and flanks greyish 

 white, suffused with yellow. Wings and tail brown, edged with 

 olive-green ; under wing-coverts yellow ; under parts white, 

 slightly washed with yellowish. Thighs yellow. Bill brown. 

 Legs dark brown. Length 4| in. Female similar. Young, 

 greener, and eye-streak ill-defined. 



Language. Song, a monotonous " chiff-chiff," or " chiff- 

 cheff." Alarm-note, "tewy." 



Habits. Flight undulating. It sings from the top of some 

 tall tree, when its sombre plumage and small size make it 

 difficult to observe. When not singing it actively and restlessly 

 pursues its insect prey among the leaves. 



Food. Small insects and their larvae and soft fruits. 



Nest. May onwards. Two broods. 



Site. On or near the ground in hedgebank, or in patch of 

 rankly-growing grass, in lower part of small bush, &c. 



Materials. Dry grass, dead leaves, rootlets and moss, lined 

 with fine rootlets, a little hair, and many soft feathers. Nest 

 cave-shaped. 



Eggs. Five to seven. White, more or less spotted and 

 speckled with brown and purplish brown. 



WILLOW WARBLER OR WILLOW WEEN 

 (Phylloscopus trochilus). 



Migrant ; April to September. Found generally throughout 

 Great Britain, but in some parts of Cornwall, Wales, and 

 Ireland it is rarer. 



Haunts. Woodland districts, but less a bird of the woods 

 than the last. It has no especial predilection for willow trees, 

 as the name might imply. 



Observation. Bather larger and altogether yellower than 

 the Chiffchaff. 



Plumage. Sides of head, superciliary streak over eyes and 

 throat bright yellow ; upper parts yellowish olive-green. 

 Breast and flanks yellowish olive ; wings olive-brown, tipped 

 with yellowish ; under-wing coverts bright yellow ; under parts 

 yellowish white, more yellow on thighs and rump. Bill and 

 legs brown. Length 5 in. Female similar. Young, generally 

 yellower. 



Language. Song, a little reminiscent of the Chaffinch's 

 ditty, in that it mounts up and then hurries down the scale in 

 a staccato, irregular manner, and ends in a subdued kind of 

 whisper. Alarm-note like the Chiff chaff's " tewy." 



Habits. When seeking food amongst the leaves of some 

 moderately tall tree, it reminds one of the Tits with its odd 



