70 OUE NATIVE SONGSTERS. 



hops about the ground, or on rocks, seeming to 

 love the companionship of man. One of these 

 birds was killed in the garden of King's Col- 

 lege, Cambridge, in November, 1822, and one in 

 the following year in the garden of the Deanery, 

 at Wells, in Somersetshire ; and Mr. Yarrell has 

 remarked that the resemblance of tlie steeple- 

 crowned stone edifices of Cambridge, and of the 

 Deanery, to the pointed and elevated rocks of 

 their own peculiar haunts, may probably liave 

 been the attraction to the birds in both the loca- 

 lities referred to. 



Flocks of little birds may be seen in March, 

 which will, as sprinf:: advances, fill our now almost 

 silent woodlands with melodies. Among the ear- 

 liest of our spring arrivals is the Chiff-chafi",* or, 

 as it is often called, Chip-chap {S>/h'ia hippoJais). 

 If its song is not remarkable for variety or rich- 

 ness, yet it is pleasing, because it reminds us that 

 the singing birds which have sought in winter for 

 a more congenial climate, are now coming back 

 to their old haunts; and the notes which would 



* The Chiff-chaff is four inches and thi-ee quarters in length. 

 Whole upper parts ashy brown ; lower parts dull brownish white, 

 tinged with yellow; a pale streak over each eye; beak and feet 

 dark brown. 



