GARDEN AND ORCHARD BIRD-LIFE. 47 



Coal Tits perhaps being the commonest. All 

 these birds show little preference in their choice 

 of locality, and the Blue Tit is almost as familiar 

 round our residences as the Sparrow. In early 

 spring, when these Titmice are exceptionally 

 noisy, we can form the best estimate of their 

 numbers and ubiquity. Another tiny dweller 

 in the suburban shrubberies and pleasure-grounds 

 is the Goldcrest It loves the cover of the larch 

 and fir, and rears its brood most unobtrusively 

 and in many cases absolutely undetected. 



In early spring, when the lime-trees and 

 chestnuts are just bursting into leaf, the Chiff- 

 chaff appears in the gardens and wooded grounds. 

 From the closing days of March right through 

 the summer its monotonous double note, which 

 in some parts of Devonshire has gained for the 

 species the name of "choice and cheap," may 

 be heard almost everywhere. A week or so 

 later the sweet-voiced Willow Wren arrives, and 

 is almost equally common, its glad little song 

 being quite a feature in the spring bird-life of 

 this favoured spot. The Whitethroat, too, is a 

 regular summer migrant to Torquay, frequenting 

 the dense thickets and hedges, being specially 



