Common chiffchaff Common chiffchaff The common chiffchaff ("Phylloscopus collybita"), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia. It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named onomatopoeically for its simple "chiff-chaff" song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground, and assumes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, whilst
Birds, Beasts, and Relatives the huge success of "My Family". Durrell wrote "Birds, Beasts and Relatives" primarily to raise money for his animal-collecting expeditions. "Birds, Beasts, and Relatives", like "My Family and Other Animals," offers a series of autobiographical anecdotes from the Durrell family's five-year sojourn on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. The youngest child, Gerald was aged ten when his widowed mother moved her family to accompany her eldest son Lawrence Durrell and his wife Nancy from Bournemouth to Corfu. He had another older brother, Leslie, and older sister Margaret, often referred to as "Margo." He does not present