THE WILLOW-WARBLERS. 
209 
more olive-brcwn above than the adults, and entirely yellow 
below. Before the first autumn moult the colour is a dull 
olive-brown above, the threat and breast dingy ashy-brown ; 
the abdomen white, with a wash of sulphur-yellow in the 
middle; the feet very pale. 
Winter Plumage. — The adults in winter have the plumage veiy 
like that of the spring, but lather more yellow. 
Note. — The Willow- Warbler is easily distinguished from the Wood- 
Warbler by its smaller size and duller coloration. The third and fourth 
primaries are the longest quills, and the second primary is intermediate 
between the fifth and sixth. It is with the ChifTchaff that the Willow- 
Warbler is often confounded, but, as will be seen below, the wing of the 
Chiffchaff is much more rounded, and the proportion of the quills is quite 
different. I11 the Willow-Warbler the wing is much mare pointed, as befits 
a bird of such extended migration. The feet are also much paler in the 
Willow- Warbler than in the Chiffchaff. 
Range in Great Britain. — A summer visitor to r early every por- 
tion of the British Islands, though somewhat local in the west 
of England and parts of Wales. It is only known as a straggler 
in the Orkneys and Shetland Isles. It arrives in England about 
the beginning of April, and departs in September. 
Range outside the British Islands. — Occurs in nearly every part 
of Europe, but in many countries only on migration. Its 
breeding range extends to the extreme north of Scandinavia, 
and in the valleys of the Petchora and the Yenesei Mr. See- 
bohm found the species up to 70° N. lat. In the northern 
countries of Europe it breeds, but chiefly in the mountains, 
and is decidedly local, while for its eastern range Dr. Pleske 
gives ample data to show that it nests in most of the provinces 
of Russia, and even in the Caucasus and the isolated woods of 
the Kirghis-steppes. The principal winter home of the 'Willow- 
Warbler is Africa, where it is found not only on the west coast 
but also in South Africa down to the Cape Colony itself. It 
occurs in most collections from the Transvaal, and it is also 
met with in Damara Land during the cold season in the north. 
It is even said to winter in some of the Mediterranean countries, 
and certainly does so in the oases of the Sahara. 
Habits. — Although the Willow-Warbler is frequently noticed 
in the woods, especially on its first arrival in spring, it is by no 
means so exclusively a denizen of them as the Wood- Warbler. 
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