CHIFF CHAFF. 337 
half in breadth, white with a few specks of dark purplish 
red. 
As this little bird is one of the first to arrive here in 
the spring, so is it also one of the last to leave us in au- 
tumn, and it is frequently heard and seen as late as the 
middle of October. Montagu states in his Supplement 
that he saw this species several times in the winters of 
1806 and 1808 in Devonshire ; and Mr. Neville Wood, as 
mentioned by Mr. Hewitson, has heard its note as early 
as the 5th of February; but on the occurrence of an un- 
usually late sprmg, the song was not heard by the same 
gentleman in the north of England till the 21st of April. 
Mr. Sweet says, ‘The Chiff Chaff is easily taken in a 
trap, and soon becomes tame in confinement. One that 
he caught was so familiar as to take a fly from his fingers ; 
it also learned to drink milk out of a tea-spoon, of which 
it was so fond that it would fly after it all round the 
room, and perch on the hand that held it, without show- 
ing the least symptom of fear; it would also fly up to 
the ceiling, and bring down a fly in its beak every time.” 
The Chiff Chaff is nowhere so abundant as the Willow 
Warbler; it is, however, found, though few im number, 
in all the southern counties from Sussex to Cornwall and 
Wales; but Mr. Thompson sends me word it is not so 
abundant in Ireland as Sylvia trochilus. It is found in 
Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Westmoreland, York- 
shire, Durham, and Northumberland ; but further to the 
north in this country I am unable to trace it. Mr. Hewit- 
son noticed it in Norway; and on the European Conti- 
nent, in summer, it is generally distributed to the shores 
of the Mediterranean, and is even common in Italy in 
winter. Itis found at Corfu, Sicily, and Malta, and was 
also seen by Mr. Strickland at Smyrna in November. 
VOL. I. Z 
