redirects and 404.shtml

[julesgf]

Hello all
i have loads of "permanently moved" redirects in .htaccess and every time someone requests a url that has been redirected i get a:

File does not exist: /home/my-domain/public_html/404.shtml

in the error log

the 301 permanently moved redirects are working perfectly (tested here: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html )
and they show up correctly (as 301's) in the "Latest Visitors" page.

i'm just wondering if someone can explain why apache is looking for a 404.shtml page when it is doing a 301 redirect.

Cheers
Julesgf