342 Mr. G. A. K. Marshall on Birds as a Factor in the 



tit observed to eat a white butterfly : The Editor, 

 "Country-Side," 1903, p. 290 (England). 



7. Parus major, L. (Great Tit). " I have seen a great 



titmouse capture the White Butterfly (Fieris rapae) 

 on the wing " : W. Eagle Clarke, quoted by Prof. 

 Poulton, " Nature," Ixv, p. 465 (England). 



8. Motacilla sp. (Wagtail), (a) A good account of the 



pursuit and final capture of a Small Tortoiseshell 

 ( Vanessa urticac, L.) by this bird. The observer 

 infers from the method used by the bird " that it was 

 not a mere attack brought on by curiosity, but the 

 result of experience, which had taught it that the 

 body and not the wings was the desired tit-bit " : 

 H. J. Turner, "Ent. Record," 1904, p. 385 (England). 

 — (b) A wagtail observed to catch a white butterfly : 

 The Editor, " Country-Side," 1903, p. 290 (England). 



9. Fratincola rubetra, L. ( Whinchat). " On another even- 



ing, August 16th, 1907, at Beachy Head, I watched a 

 pair of furze-chats picking specimens of [Folyom- 

 matios] corydon off grass stems and taking them to a 

 small tree. On going to the tree to investigate, 

 the two birds flew off together with a brood of young 

 ones. Under the tree on the ground were about 

 thirty or forty wings of male corydon " : C. W. Col- 

 thrup, "The Country-Side," March 21, 1908, p. 267. 



10. Fhoenicurtis plioenicurus, L. (Redstart), (a) " They 



take flies, gnats, small butterflies and all sorts of 

 small two- and four-winged insects, partly on the 

 wing and partly at rest " : Naumann, " Vog. Deut.," ii, 

 p. 519. — (&) " It feeds on flies, gnats, small butter- 

 flies and various other kinds of small coleopterous 

 and other insects, caterpillars, etc. " : H. Dresser, 

 "Birds of Europe," ii, p. 281. — (c) "I have also re- 

 peatedly observed in my own country [Switzerland] 

 how the Redstart (Rotschwanchen), which seems to 

 have a special liking for butterflies, would catch 

 ' Whites ' on the wing and take them to the nest " : 

 Prof. L. Kathariner, " Biol Centralb," 6. xviii, 1898, p. 

 681. — {d) The author states that every year he was 

 in the habit of releasing hundreds of butterflies 

 (especially Vanessae) bred in temperature experi- 

 ments, and that the birds of the neighbourhood 

 would then congregate and pursue the insects, whose 

 flight was still weak. He notes that a pair of red- 



