77 



THE CHIFFCIIAFF. 



Phylloscopus rufus (Bechst.). 



Chiffohaffs arrived along the whole o£ the south coast, but 

 in greatest numbers from Hampshire westwards. A single 

 bird seen daily in Staffordshire from the 28th of February 

 to the 19th of March was probably one that had wintered in 

 England. An observer in the Scilly Isles also sent a note 

 to the effect that some had remained there all the winter. 

 A single bird was seen in Devonshire on the 2nd of March, 

 and stray examples (mostly singly) in Cornwall, Dorset, 

 Sussex, Kent, Somerset, Surrey, Essex, Denbigh and Leicester 

 between that date and the 28th. The first record from the 

 lights was of one killed at Start Point (S. Devon) on the 

 28th/29th of March ; on the 29th/30th two were seen at 

 the Guernsey light, and many at St. Catherine's (Hants) on 

 the 30th/31st. Many were also seen at the Guernsey light 

 on the 2nd/3rd and on the 4th/5th of April. 



These arrivals in Devonshire and Hampshire constituted 

 the first immigration, but the numbers were small and led 

 to a scanty but rather more general distribution of the 

 species in the western half of the kingdom. No connection 

 can be traced between the records from the Channel Islands 

 and any of the arrivals on our coasts, and it would appear that 

 the large numbers observed there in the early days of April 

 were not, directly at any rate, on their way to this country. 



The second immigration, one of considerable size, occurred 

 between the 9th and 19th of April, arrivals taking place on 

 the eastern half of the south coast on the 9th, 13th, 15th, 

 16th and 19th, and on the western half on the 10th, 12th, 

 13th, 15th and 19th. The influence of this immigration was 

 at once evident, the numbers increasing rapidly throughout 



