BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
like " chaff-chifE and the more alert appearance of the 
bird, will serve to distinguish it from the two following species. 
The Chiff chaff in winter is found in the countries bordering 
on the Mediterranean and in Africa as far south as SomaU- 
land and Abyssinia. 
THE WILLOW-WREN. 
Phylloscopus trochilus (Linnaeus). 
Local names— Silver-Wren ; Wee Cut-throat. 
A common summer-visitant throughout the county. 
A specimen of the Willow-Wren from the collection of Rev 
W. Little, now in the possession of Mr. R. Service, is labelled 
" very abundant in every wood and thicket, builds on the 
ground, with us a summer visitor." These remarks refer 
to the distribution of this bird some seventy years ago, 
when it was apparently as common as it is now. 
It arrives here about the middle of April, and from ten 
years' observation the date of the first arrivals near Dumfries 
varies from the 14th to the 25th of April, but the value ot 
such dates is very shght, as these first arrivals are generally 
but the precursors of larger flocks ; indeed, the immigration 
of this species has been noticed here as continuing tiU 
nearly June. In 1902 Willow-Wrens were seen on 
April 14th, and two inches of snow fell the same day. 
Their departure usually takes place in September, but 
in 1895 they were seen so late as October 15th. 
In some seasons they appear in greater numbers than 
usual, as in 1880, when they were particularly numerous. 
The nest, as already stated {see p. 27), is usually built on 
the ground, but Mr. R. Service records them as occasionally 
built " five feet up in a thick hedge or bush,"t but such a 
situation is exceptional. 
* Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., 1880, Vol. IV., pp. 305, 306. 
t Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., 1905, Vol. VII., p. 144. 
