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THE CHIFFCHAFF. 



Phylloscopus rufus (Bechst.) 



There appear to have been six marked immigrations of 

 the Chiff chaff through our islands. The first two struck 

 the coast between Devon and the Isle of Wight and passed 

 on in a northerly direction ; the next two, occurring along 

 the whole of the south coast, populated the southern 

 counties, while the last two struck the same coast, and 

 passing on populated the north. 



The first immigration reached the coast between Kings- 

 bridge in Devon and Hayling Island in Hants on the 20th 

 and 21st March, and these birds appear to have gone imme- 

 diately north, mainly along the line of the Welsh border. 

 A few, however, travelled into Wales itself, reaching 

 Anglesea and North Wales on the 21st and Cheshire on 

 the 22nd. 



Between March 25th and 27th a second small immigra- 

 tion occurred between Plymouth and west Hampshire, and 

 passing north through Somerset and the Welsh border 

 seems to have carried with it a large number of Chiff chaffs 

 that had already arrived, so that in the first week of April 

 there were practically only a few of these birds left in the 

 south. An arrival of Chiff chaffs, which may be termed a 

 rearguard of this second immigration, occurred in Dorset 

 on March 31st, the immigrants spreading into Monmouth 

 on April 1st and Shropshire on April 3rd. 



The third immigration, which was a comparatively small 

 one, took place on the coast between Kingsbridge and the 

 Isle of Wight on April 3rd, and these birds spread over 

 the southern counties, replacing those that had moved 

 away on the 27th March. The Chiff chaffs composing 

 this immigration were evidently the nesting-birds of the 



