THE WILLOW-WARBLERS. 213 



south of Scotland ; it is a common bird in Ross-shire, has been 

 found in Caithness, but is only known as a straggler in the 

 Outer Hebrides and in the Orkneys. In Ireland it is by no 

 means rare. 



Range outside the British Islands. Found throughout the 

 greater part of Europe, but nesting less frequently in the 

 Mediterranean countries than in the north ; in Italy it breeds 

 only in the mountains. It does not quite reach the Arctic 

 Circle in summer, occurring in Scandinavia as high as 65 N. 

 lat, and in Russia attaining the same latitude. Its eastern 

 range extends to the government of Perm, where it is replaced 

 by the Siberian Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus tristis^ which also takes 

 its place in the Petchora Valley. According to Pleske,- our 

 ChiffcharT breeds in the government of Orenburg, north of the 

 Ural river, but in Central and Southern Russia is only seen on 

 migration, and it is also a migrant to the valleys of the Amu 

 Darya, wintering in Persia, Asia Minor, Greece, and Palestine, 

 and as far south as Abyssinia. In the Canary Islands it is re- 

 placed by an allied species, Phylloscopus fortunatus. 



Habits. These resemble those of the other members of the 

 genus, but the ChiffcharT is less easily observed than either the 

 Wood or Willow- Warblers, as it seldom sings in the open, but is 

 more a frequenter of shrubberies and ivy-clad woods, in which 

 it manages to conceal itself effectually. Its tell-tale note, from 

 which the name of Chiffchaff is derived, betrays its presence, 

 but the bird is by no means easy of observation, except in the 

 vicinity of its nest. Its food consists of small insects and 

 caterpillars, in pursuit of which it searches the leaves diligently 

 like the Willow- Warbler, and it is quite as active as the latter 

 bird, though it has not such a rapid flight, owing doubtless to 

 its more rounded and less migratory wing. 



Nest. This is generally placed on the ground. It is half 

 domed as a rule, but not invariably, and is composed of dried 

 grass, rather roughly put together on the outside, but more 

 neatly on the inside of the nest, which is usually lined with 

 feathers. No moss is used, as in the case of the Willow- 

 Warbler, and the feather-lining is sometimes very scanty, as is 

 also the case occasionally with the nest of the last-named 

 species. The Chiffchaff often builds in the open, by the side 



