356 
The chiff-cliaft' is also called tlie " cliiiiky-chank ; " its only 
song is chiff-chaff. It is the earliest migratory bird that arrives, 
and stays very late, even to tlie end of November. The male 
bird is brighter in. colour than the female. This little bird has 
been seen by Mr. Bartlett at the Zoological Gardens as early as 
March. 
^^'UT-HATCH, p. 50. — The 'Nut hatch makes a very amusing 
pet if reared from the nest, and becomes perfectly tame ; he is 
always on the move, climbing up the sides of the trees and 
tapping for insects, &c. The nut-hatch takes possession of an 
old hole made by the woodpecker, and stops up the hole with 
mud, leaving an aperture just big enough to get in and out. 
This curious doorway is scarcely perceptible to the eye, as the 
mud corresponds with the colour of the tree ; he builds from 
four to twelve feet high from the ground ; if he cannot find a 
woodpecker's hole, he Avill take any other. 
The nut-hatch's foot is made for climbing, but he cannot hold 
anything by the foot. When he cannot get beech-nuts, &c., he 
will eat all kinds of insect food, he will also eat oleaginous seeds. 
Mr. Davy thinks they will hide away beech-mast and nuts for 
winter consumption. They are caught under beech-trees and in 
groves of old limes or chestnuts. They make their nests in the 
old holes which the spotted woodpecker has dug out. All 
woodpeckers make holes in the trees and then tunnel down- 
wards about a foot. They carry the chips away as they dig 
them out. 
Willow- Wrens, p. 51. — No doubt the three willow-wrens 
mentioned are mistaken for the chiff-chaff, wood-wren, and 
willow-wren, the wood-wren being very rare; the legs of the 
willow-wren are flesh coloured ; the chiff-chaff is smaller, and 
the legs are nearly black. 
Grasshopper Warbler, p. 52. — The grasshopper warbler is a 
very shy bird, something like the whitethroat ; makes its nest on 
the ground ; comes late, about April, and goes away in September. 
It is entirely an insect-feeder. The song is deceiving, and 
resembles the croaking of the grasshopper or locust ; it shifts 
about a great deal when singing. Most of the woods round 
London produce two or three pairs in a season. They prefer 
quiet woods, and sing on the lowest twio^s of bushes. This bird 
is hard to keep in a cage ; the longest time ever known is seven 
weeks. It requires soft insect food, such as small hairless 
caterpillars. None of the bird-catchers have ever seen it migrate ; 
