160 BUITISH BIRDS. [vol. xm. 



climbed up this knoll and found a Merlin's nest with eggs, 

 whilst in the vicinity we saw three Hooded Crows' nests all 

 empty, and evidently the Merlins had driven them out and 

 possibly destroyed their eggs. He tells me since that he has 

 not seen the Crows in the vicinity again. 



The reports of the breeding of Red-necked Phalaropes 

 {Phalaropus Johaius) and Red-throated Divers {Colymbiis 

 steUatus) in 1019 are very satisfactory. There appear to be 

 Red-throated Divers on most of the lochs on the western side 

 of Shetland, and many more than there were last year. 



C. Greatorex. 



BIRDS FEEDING UPON WINGED ANTS. 



One hot day in August, IQ19, swarms of winged ants appeared 

 in my garden at Colchester, Essex, and it was very curious 

 to see how the birds flocked to them from all directions. 

 The ants climbed a small stake in a flower bed and made it a 

 sort of jumping off place ; as they mounted into the air one 

 by one they were seized upon and devoured. Swallow^s, 

 House-Sparrows, Spotted Flycatchers, Greenfinches and others 

 were all eager for what I suppose was to them a great treat, 

 until one wondered how many, if any, of the ants would escape. 

 The clever way in which the Sparrows imitated the Fly- 

 catchers in catching the insects on the wing, a fact which I 

 had noticed before, was especially interesting. The only 

 exception was the Robin, a special pet, which after sampling 

 a few ants and performing a kind of waltz round them decided 

 that " the game was not worth the candle " and went off in 

 disgust. Lucy Jai^e Bawtree. 



NUMBER OF EGGS LAID BY MARSH-WARBLER. 



With reference to Mr. Thomas's note on this subject {antea, 

 p. 137), my experience of the number of eggs laid by the 

 Marsh-Warbler is that the usual clutch is four or five. 1 have 

 examined a good many nests since 1911 and can vouch for the 

 fact that not one'* of them had more than five eggs. My 

 observations were confined to the county of Somerset. 



Joseph H. Symes. 



PIED FLYCATCHERS ON MIGRATION IN LONDON. 



It may be worth recording that on September i6th, 1919, 

 in the grounds of theHurlingham Club, I heard the unmistak- 

 able^note of a Pied Flycatcher {Muscicapa It. hypoleuca), and 

 just caught a glimpse of two of these birds chasing each 

 other in the top branches of a poplar. J. K. Stanford. 



