THE CHIFFCHAFF. 



Shady woods, well-timbered dells, and 

 stream-sides with plenty of matured 

 trees clustering round are beloved haunts 

 of the Chiffchaff, which builds its nest 

 on or near the ground amongst tall grass 

 tangled with brambles and small bushes, 

 hedge and ditch banks, and sometimes 

 in ivy growing against trees and walls. 

 The structure is oval, domed, and has an 

 entrance hole in the side. It is made of 

 dead grass, withered leaves, and moss — 

 sometimes a few fern fronds are employed 

 — and is lined with hair and feathers. 



The eggs, numbering froni five to 

 seven, are white, sparingly spotted with 

 dark purplish-brown. 



It is by no means an easy matter for 

 the inexperienced ornithologist to dis- 

 tinguish the Chiffchaff from the Willow 

 Wren, although the species under notice 

 is a trifle smaller and duller in colour. 



Its song, if two oft-repeated notes can 

 be dignified bj^ such a name, is, however, 

 quite unique and impossible to confuse 

 with that of any other British bird. The 

 two notes sound something like duff 

 chaff or chip chop, and are uttered four 

 or five times in succession as the bird 

 hunts from bough to bough and tree to 

 tree after its insect food. 

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