NOTES AT AVIGNON. 177 
were arriving from the sea in great numbers, and in a variety of 
plumage that was quite bewildering. Again, in 1905, as I was 
crossing from Sicily to Greece in the ‘ Argonaut,’ they were con- 
tinually dropping on the deck on April 16th, while on our return 
voyage at the end of the month only a single specimen visited us. 
- Lhave now mentioned all the migrants I was able to see at 
Avignon this year; on my former visit I was able to add, on the 
12th, the Common Sandpiper, a few Whitethroats, and a single 
Spotted Flycatcher. But this spring of 1908 seems to be every- 
where an exceptional one; I have this afternoon (April 17th) had 
the unique experience of strolling for some three hours in fields 
1) woods of Oxfordshire without seeing or hearing a single 
summer migrant. 
I may just add that Avignon should be a good place for 
collectors of Lepidoptera. Among the butterflies I met with in 
sunny spots, chiefly on higher ground among olives and vines and 
on the walls of gardens, were the Camberwell Beauty, the larger 
Swallow-tail, Brimstones (all with the deep orange on the upper 
wings, which is characteristic in the South of Europe), the 
Clouded Yellow, Large Tortoiseshell, Green Hairstreak, Small 
Copper, Bedford Blue, Marbled White, and what appeared to me 
to be a Comma. Perhaps the most abundant insect was the 
Humming-bird Moth ; in fifty years in England I have not seen 
so many as I saw in five days at Avignon and Orange. When 
we see them in this country they are hovering about our garden 
flowers, but there they were in greatest numbers about sunny 
stone walls, where assuredly no nutriment was to be had. 
Whether they were simply enjoying the warmth, or what they 
were doing, I must leave to entomologists to decide. 
' Gool. #ti ser. vol. XII... May, 1208. P 
