12G 
SYLVIAD.E. 
in all parts of the kingdom where woods or hedges afford it 
shelter and food. Its note he says is heard long after the 
hay-bird (or willow-wren of this work) is silent. We have, 
hoAvever, never found it plejitiful even in places apparently 
the most adapted to it; we know a few to frequent our own 
immediate neighbourhood, and but few. With us it is far 
less common than the willow-wren, if we may judge by 
the infrequency of its note, and the scarcity of its nest and 
eq'O's. 
This species appears to avoid low and damp situations, 
and to prefer hilly country to that vdiich is level. It is 
mostly found to choose a situation for its nest upon the 
slope of a hill, among fern, low bushes, and long grass : some¬ 
times it is placed beneath the shelter of the recumbent strag¬ 
gling branches of a bramble, or behind a clod of turf. The 
shelter of tall trees is mostly sought; but we have found 
its nest upon the top of a hill, at the distance of many yards 
from any tree, and hidden only by low bushes of furze. 
The building-materials of their nests vary according to the 
locality chosen, and are usually in part constructed of the 
materials they are placed among, whether fern, moss, or dry 
grasses; for which reason the difficulty of finding them is 
much increased. 
We usually observe in authors the nest of the Chiff-chaff 
and willow-wren described as domed, but we think a more 
distinctive w'ord might be used to express their form, namely 
hooded. A domed nest implies a structure entirely covered 
with a cupola or hollow ceiling; which is indeed the case 
with the nests of the common wren and the lonff-tailed tit- 
o 
mouse, and Avithin which the eggs are completely concealed: 
but as those of the Chiff-chaff and Avillow-wren are only 
partially covered with a ceiling, we think the term hooded 
more significant of their form. A nest of the Chiff-chaff, 
now before us, is most perfectly in accordance with this term ; 
