THE WILLOW WAEBLER. 



281 



destruction by devouring the caterpillars of the well-known green oak moth, which roll 

 up the leaves in so curious a manner, and come tumbling out of their green houses at 

 the slightest alarm. Gnats and other small flies are a diet much in favour with the Chiff- 

 chaff ; and one of these birds that had been captured and tamed was accustomed to dash 

 to the ceiling of the room in which it was kept, and to snatch from thence the flies as 

 they settled after their fashion on the white surface. 



This little bird has been seen in England as early as the twelfth of March, and it 

 remains in this country as late as the middle of October, so that it is the first to arrive 

 and the last to depart of all the British Warblers. 



The nest of the Chiff-chaff is something like that of the common wren, being a 

 rounded structure with a hole in the side, through which the bird obtains admission into 

 the interior. It is seldom placed at any great elevation from the ground, and is often 

 built upon the soil itself at the foot of some overshadowing'bush. The materials of which 

 it is composed are generally leaves, grasses, and moss, and the interior is lined with a 

 warmer bed of soft "feathers. The eggs are five or six in number, and their colour is 

 whitish grey, speckl'ed with a few spots of dark red. 



The general colour of this bird is ashen brown upon the upper parts of the body, the 

 quill-feathers being, as is usual, of a darker hue. The whole under surface is white, 

 washed with yellowish-brown, and the under wing-coverts are of a fine soft yellow hue. 

 The beak and eyes are brown. The entire length of this pretty little bird is rather less 

 than five inches. 



CniFF-CHAFF, OR LESSER PETTICHAPS.-.9j/Zt>ta rafa. 



WILLOW V^KRELER.— Sylvia trucMhit. 



Another interesting member of this large genus is the Willow Waebler, Willow 

 Wren, or Yellow Ween, its various names being derived from the localities which it 

 trequents and the colour of its feathers. 



The habits of this bird are very like those of the Whitethroat, and it feeds on much 

 the same kmd of food, preferrmg insects to any other diet, and seldom if ever invading 

 the fruit trees. It generaUy arrives in England about the middle of April, when its 

 cheery song may be heard enlivening the hedgerows and copses, sometimes being poured 

 forth while the bird is on the wing, but generally from some elevated branch. The nest 

 ot the WiUow Wren is like that of the chiff-chaff, and is generally placed upon the 

 ground. The eggs are from five to seven in number, and their colour is white-grey, dotted 

 with numerous spots of pinlcy-red. The young birds are hatched in May or June. In 

 Mr. YarreU's work on the British birds, there is a very interesting account of the attach- 



