than seen, its song, a continuous, sweet, and mellow warble, 
rivalling that of the blackcap, though softer and less varied. 
Haunting shrubberies and gardens, it is yet the mere ghost 
of a bird, its uniform brown upper parts, and brownish-buff 
under parts, coupled with its shy, retiring disposition make 
it exceedingly difficult to see. Three other tantalizing little 
members of this numerous tribe are the chiffchaff, willow- 
warbler, and wood-warbler. Tantalizing because so fre- 
quently seen during the summer months, so much alike, and 
yet, somehow, different. The novice has no name for them ; 
the expert can only tell them by a combination of characters, 
and their contrasts. He is guided rather by their notes 
and habits, than by their appearance, so closely do they 
resemble one another! The chiffchaff, as its name suggests, 
is to be identified by its song—Chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff, 
chiff-chaff-chiff—uttered from the top of a high tree. The 
singer is too small to be seen, so that he who would discover 
what manner of bird is the songster, must watch in the direc- 
tion of the sound, till the singer elects to descend. The 
willow-warbler is a rather larger bird with a tinge of yellow 
in his plumage. Also it is less restricted to woods and coppices, 
and has a sweet, indescribable warble. The wood-warbler 
is the largest of this trio—from the tip of his beak to the tip 
of his tail he may measure as much as five inches—and is 
also the most brightly coloured. Above he is greenish, with 
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