NOTES ON MIGRANTS AND MOULT 31 



(15th September to 25th October) exhibited no moult, neither 

 did one on i ith March. 



Spotted Flycatchers (six in May) are slightly worn but 

 none in moult, but of nine autumn birds there were only two 

 which did not show active moult : — thus two adults at the 

 end of August are in full body moult, including tertials and 

 great coverts but not the flight or tail feathers which, in spite 

 of belonging to the old breeding plumage, are not so greatly 

 abraded ; two young birds (mid-September) and one (2nd 

 October) have a few body feathers still in quill, and two 

 (14th September and 2nd October) have a considerable trace 

 of the juvenile plumage unmoulted. Birds obtained in their 

 winter quarters show that 'this species has a spring moult ; 

 thus one on 7th Februar)- is very worn all over ; others in 

 March are moulting the body feathers, tail, median and 

 lesser coverts and some of the greater coverts, while the 

 tertials look quite fresh. Seven Pied Flycatchers (end of 

 April or early Ma\') are all in fairly fresh plumage all over, 

 and of ten autumn birds, one on 14th August has a few 

 body feathers in quill, and one (2nd September) in addition 

 has a sprinkling of juvenile feathers left, while a Red- 

 breasted Flycatcher on 22nd September also shows a few 

 juvenile feathers unmoulted. 



The results of my examination of the Phylloscopi 

 bear out those of Miss Baxter and Miss Rintoul : briefly 

 I find that Willow Wrens, Northern Willow Wrens, and 

 Chiffchaffs on early spring migration are in but slightly 

 worn and Wood Wrens in very fresh plumage, but here 

 and there one may find a bird {e.g., a Chifichaff on 

 20th March) with feathers of two ages, the one fresh, the 

 other very worn ; our Pliylloscopi have evidently moulted 

 since they left us in the autumn. Turning to evidence from 

 specimens obtained in the winter quarters, I find that Chiff- 

 chaffs in February which I have examined are in very worn 

 plumage all over., so that one may surmise that this species 

 moults some time between then and their arrival here ; 

 whether all moult completely or not is uncertain, but the 

 specimen above alluded to had only done a very partial 

 moult. Willow Wrens from Africa in November are very 



