of the Chiff chaff and Willow- Warbler. 311 



In March, April, and May 1905 Mr. RatclifF and I had a 

 similar experience in the province of Huelva^ which abuts 

 on the south-eastern borders of Portugal. 



Excepting near Gibraltar, do any ChifFchaffs nest in the 

 Iberian peninsula south of lat. 40° N. ? If there really 

 is a gap in the breeding-area, it decidedly favours the 

 theory that the Gibraltar birds are more or less non- 

 migratory. 



Atlas Range. — There are many suggestions on record of 

 various Phylloscopi breeding there, based on song and 

 enlarged sexual organs, which are, of course, no proof what- 

 ever, especially in migrating birds, which are only a few 

 hundred miles or less from their prospective breeding- 

 grounds. The only record which must be referred to is that 

 given by Witherby (' Ibis,' 1905, p. 186) for the nest and 

 eggs of a Phylloscopus in Algeria. 



With regard to its species, Witherby tells me that after 

 a long wait he was unable to obtain the owner of the nest 

 and therefore left it intending to return next day ; this he 

 did but was unfortunately unable to locate the nest again, 

 but he described it as " evidently belonging to this species/' 

 and as a Chiff chaff in song with testes in breeding condition * 

 was obtained in the same locality, it is nearly certain that 

 the Chiffchaff does breed there. 



Sardinia. — Extremely doubtful as a breeding locality, and 

 if its reputation as such rests only on Brooke's ('Ibis/ 1873, 

 p. 244) note, still more so, for I do not read it that he refers to 

 breeding at all. (Records show almost certainly that Corsica 

 is not a breeding locality.) 



Sicily. — Apparently very doubtful too. We certainly did 

 not find the Chiffchaff in the very suitable-looking country 



* It is interesting to note that this particular specimen was mentioned 

 in Witherhy's paper as " P. trochibis" but on re-examining it just 

 recently we find it is a typical P. c. collybita, just like the Gibraltar 

 ones, and he aslis me to mention this in order that the correction may be 

 made in his paper. He does not remember what the song was like, but 

 the possibility of his having been led into a too hast}^ identification by a 



