PHYLLOPNEUSTE RUFA. 
ChifF-chaiF. 
Curruca rufa, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 387. 
Motacilla rufa, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 955. 
Sylvia rufa. Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 616. 
loquax, Herbert, Notes to White’s Nat. Hist, of Selborne, Bennett’s edit. p. 81. 
hippolais, Penn. Brit. Zool., vol. i. p. 508. 
Motacilla hippolais, Mont. Orn. Diet. 
Trochilus minor, Bew. Brit. Birds, vol i. p. 268. 
Regulus hippolais, Flem. Brit. Anim., p. 72. 
Phyllopneuste rufa, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 289, Phyllopneuste, sp. 4. 
Phylloscopus rufus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 185. 
To ordinary observers the Chiff-ehalF, the Willow-Wren, and the Wood-Wren would all appear to be one and 
the same species ; on a close examination, however, it will soon be found that they are quite distinct. The 
three birds not only frequent the same woods, but often even the same tree. Being desirous of obtaining 
examples of each for a scientific purpose, I, in May 1859, took advantage of this circumstance, and shot a 
male of each species on the branches of a single oak in the short space of fifteen minutes. They were all 
in full song; and I had not the slightest difficulty in distinguishing them. One of the objects I had in view 
in obtaining these birds was to determine their relative weights and measurements, which will be found at 
the end of this paper. 
In colour the three birds bear a very general resemblance, — two of them especially. The distinguishing 
chai-acters of the Chifif-chafif are its smaller size, the darker hue of its plumage, and the almost black colour 
of its legs ; that of the Willow-Wren is the light fleshy-brown tint of its tarsi ; and those of the Wood-Wren, 
its silvery-white abdomen, the bright-yellow hue of the eye-streak and the margins of the primaries, and its 
more lengthened wings. The song of the three birds is strikingly different ; the “ chilp-chilp ” of the 
Chiff-chaff having no resemblance to the soft, plaintive note of the Willow-Wren, or to the reeling, sibilous 
“ trit ” of the Wood-Wren. 
When on the trees, the movements of the Chiff-chaff and Willow-Wren are very similar: both keep to the 
small leafy branches, displaying great activity, examining every bud for larvse, and prying beneath every leaf 
for Aphides and even still more minute insects, for obtaining which their bills and delicate structure are 
admirably suited : the Wood-Wren, on the other hand, although equally, if not still more active, spends 
much of its time taking insects in the air, or while clinging with tremulous wings to the extremities of the 
branches in the more shady parts of the woods. In the materials with which the nests of the three species 
are constructed, as well as in the situations in which they are placed, and in the markings and colouring of 
their eggs, some slight diversity also occurs, as will be seen on reference to the descriptions given with each 
species. Here then we have three birds so closely allied that, as I have before stated, no ordinary observer 
w'ould distinguish one from the other, even though skins of all three were placed before him ; yet they never 
interbreed with each other. If such alliances w'ere to occur among birds in a state of nature, the constancy 
of species would be infringed, an endless mass of confusion would arise, and ornithology would no longer 
be a science. 
One of the situations near London wdiere these three birds may always be seen and heard during the 
summer months is the richly foliaged woods at Taplow, Cliveden, and Hedsor, and the underlying Garden of 
Formosa on the opposite hank of this very beautiful part of the Thames. 
I shall now confine myself more particularly to the history of the Chiff-chaff, and may commence hy saying 
that if there he any one of our spring or summer birds which, in small numbers, spends the winter in the 
more w^estern and milder parts of England, it is this species. Indeed, I have been informed hy E. Hearle 
Rodd, Esq., and Mr. Vingoe of Penzance that it is very frequently seen in Cornwall at that season, and that 
some few remain there during most winters ; this, however, is quite an exception to the general rule, for 
the Chiff-chaff as regularly proceeds from our country to Spain and Africa as any other of our migrants. 
Tlie time of its arrival in the midland counties of England differs from that of the Willow- and the Wood- 
Wren, for it precedes both by two or three weeks, and the well-known call of a solitary individual may 
frequently be heard as early as the middle of March ; and from that time to the middle of April w^e have a 
constant accession of visitors, until the bird is generally, but not universally, dispersed over the British 
Islands. I say, not universally, because it is but rarely met with in Scotland. In Norway and Sweden it 
