SYLVIAD3I. 113 



April. Yarrell says it is to be found in greater num- 

 bers and more generally dispersed than either the 

 "Wood Warbler or the Chiffchaff: this is not quite 

 the case in my own immediate neighbourhood, for 

 here the Chiffchaff is the commoner bird, although 

 the nest of the present species being the easier 

 to find, its eggs are more common in collections. 

 Though a summer visitor, and not a very early one, 

 it would appear, from a note in the * Zoologist' for 

 1866, that this little bird does occasionally remain 

 with us during the winter ; but its occurrence during 

 that season is very rare. 



The food of the Willow Warbler is entirely con- 

 fined to flies and other sorts of insects. I have 

 often watched a pair of old birds feeding their 

 young: the food brought always appeared to be 

 either flies or caterpillars, especially the small green 

 caterpillars. Yarrell says, " This bird does not eat 

 fruit, and when seen in the garden should be allowed 

 to remain unmolested, as one of the gardener's best 

 friends, from the number of insects it consumes 

 daily." The gardener, however, constantly con- 

 founds it with the much- abused Whitethroat, and it 

 suffers accordingly. 



The nest of the Willow Warbler is placed on the 

 ground in some open plantation, or frequently in an 

 orchard, generally under cover of a tuft of long 

 grass or weeds: it is covered over, a hole only 

 being left for the entrance of the parent birds : it 



L3 



