Birds of Britain 



ground. Two broods are reared in the season and the rest 

 of the summer is spent quietly and unobtrusively till, in 

 October, the first storms of winter and growing scarcity of 

 food compel it to retire southwards. This it does reluctantly, 

 and a certain number spend the winter in the milder climate 

 of Devon and Cornwall. 



The upper parts are olive green ; wing coverts, quills, and 

 tail feathers brown, edged with the same colour. Under 

 parts whitish. There is a pale yellowish white streak above 

 the eye. The sexes are alike in plumage and the young 

 are slightly greener. Length 4' 6 in.; wing 2*35 in. 



This species may be distinguished from the Willow 

 Wren by its smaller size and darker legs. The second quill 

 is equal to the seventh and the outer webs are emarginated 

 near their tips up to and including the sixth. In the 

 Willow Wren the emargination only reaches the fifth and 

 the second is equal in length to the sixth. It should be 

 remembered that the first quill is very short and incon- 

 spicuous, so that the first apparent quill is the second. 



This species is scarcer and more local than the Willow 

 Wren. In Scotland it is local and is only a straggler to 

 the north of that country and the surrounding islands. 



THE SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF 



Phylloscopus tristis, Blyth 



One example of this small warbler, that breeds in 



Western Siberia, migrating to Turkestan and India in 



winter, was obtained at a lighthouse off the Orkneys in 



54 



