CHIFF-CHAFF 
of any undue interference with Nature, and at the same time 
realise, in some small degree, the vastness of the natural 
laws that are in force around us. To the fruit grower, and 
especially to the rose grower, these birds are invaluable. ‘To 
watch them hunting a garden is an education in itself. 
The young are principally fed on the larve of the above- 
mentioned insects, and to some extent on Cherononude and 
Tupula oleracea (Daddy-long-legs). When old enough to 
follow their parents in gardens or amongst the oaks, their 
appetites are almost inexhaustible. Both old and young find 
food on the bare ground, for they are fond of searching 
between the rows of peas, and also in the potato drills. In 
the autumn they spend considerable time amongst the 
willows, the reason probably being that insect life is daily 
becoming scarce, and it is consequently more likely to be 
found in damp places where the different species of sali 
srow. It must not be supposed that this list exhausts the 
food supply of the species, but it constitutes a very large 
part of it. It will be noticed that it includes two of the 
most destructive pests—TZvpula oleracea and Chimnatobia 
brumata; I need not, therefore, enlarge further on the 
benefits this species confers on agricultural interests 
generally. 
The song, from which they take their name, needs little 
description. As the summer advances it becomes rather 
monotonous, for they are the most persistent of singers, 
seldom silent, except in the middle of the day and during 
part of August. When they first arrive in the spring it is 
rather more vigorous. It consists of two notes, one rather 
higher than the other, but the first note is sometimes uttered 
two or three times before the last; also there is often at 
the beginning and end a curious little medley, rapidly and 
quietly uttered. I have never heard one really attempt to 
imitate another species, although I remember hearing one 
male with a song like a Cole-tit (Parus ater), but this song 
was mingled with the ordinary notes. 
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