VOL. vni.] NOTES. 171 



the Wash (see Map). I consider therefore that the true 

 explanation of this regular and at first sight somewhat 

 puzzling north-westerly autumnal migration along the coast 

 of Norfolk is that it is a route used by certain birds after 

 crossing the North Sea from east to west, and that instead 

 of passing straight inland, these birds continue their flight 

 round the coast of Norfolk as far as Hunstanton, then turn 

 down the shore of the Wash and proceed inland probably 

 along the course either of the river Ouse or Nene. Not 

 only so, but I also think it likely that some migrants which 

 pass straight inland after reaching the coast by a flight 

 from N.E. to S.W.. and which, in the case of the Sky-Lark 

 and the Rook, usually come to ground from a quarter to 

 half a mile from the sea, may later on continue their flight 

 by this same coast route. B. B. Riviere. 



SPOTTED FLYCATCHER'S METHOD OP 

 EATING BUTTERFLIES. 

 In Mr. J. H. Owen's note on Spotted Flycatchers {antea, 

 p. 115), mention is made of both young and old birds feeding 

 on white butterflies, the young having " to gulp several 

 times to swallow completely." Some years ago in Hampshire 

 I watched Spotted Flycatchers, both young and old, feeding 

 on Small Whites, and noticed that whereas the young 

 gulped the insect down wmgs and all, the old bird nipped 

 the wings off before swallowing the body : I heard the 

 click of the beak as it cut and I picked up the severed wing. 

 As Mr. Owen mentions old birds swallowing butterflies, 

 but says nothing about cutting off wings, I take it that the 

 Avings were swaUowed. What is the evidence with regard 

 to Flycatchers severing wings before feeding on the bodies 

 of insects '! Is it frequent with either butterflies or moths, 

 and does it happen in the case of some species more than 

 in others ? C. I. Evans. 



PROBABLE YELLOW-BROWED WARBLERS IN 

 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 



On the morning of October 18th, 1914, my garden at 

 Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, was visited by a pair of 

 Warblers which were in my opinion Yellow-browed Warblers 

 {Phylloscopus s. superciliosus). They were seen by my wife 

 and son as well as by myself. The double alar bar was 

 very well marked, and as we could none of us distinguish 

 any median stripe on the crown, or the bright yeUow bar 

 on the rump, it is clear that they could not have been 



