SHORT CUTS BY BIRDS TO NECTARIES. 391 
Even here he pushed himself well up, and at apparent inconvenience to him- 
self—very distinctly greater inconvenience than the natural openings would 
have caused—entered by the slits above. I am inclined to conclude from 
this and many other observations, that it is not only the position of the flower 
that matters: there is also something disliked —perhaps the mere fact of 
getting dusted with pollen,—and apparently some birds object to this (ог 
whatever it is that they dislike) more than others. 
“I also watched, through my glasses, a hive-bee visiting in turn the bases, 
above, of many flowers in succession. The stem was inaccessible to me 
through the fact that it stood in a thicket of thorns, hence 1 was unable to 
examine the flowers; but I later noticed a bee settle, again above, on the 
other side of a flower-ball near me and remain there for some little time. 
Presently she worked round into sight, made a long stay at the base (above) 
of the first flower (A), evidently getting something, examined the bases of 
the next two (В and С) and passed on without appreciable delay, delayed not 
at all at the next. (D), and only made the same delay at the last flower (E) 
that she had done at В and С. I examined. On the other side of the ball 
I found eight open flowers, of which five showed sunbird slits on their upper 
surface. А was similarly slit; В, C, and E were unslit ; and D, though slit, 
was а dried-up but unfallen corolla of a day or two ago: I had not been able 
to detect this from where I stood. This bee—and the first one watched——had 
evidently been utilizing the sunbird slits and ignoring the flowers in which it 
failed to find them. Yet another hive-bee was collecting pollen, and visited 
only the ends of the flowers. 
“In another ball on the same stem three of the flowers were eut off just in 
front of the calyx. It was possibly the work of birds, but less certainly so 
than yesterday's damage to Kniphofia. 
“А larger proportion of unslit flowers was present to-day than yesterday— 
possibly the result of an apparent greater scarcity of sunbirds." 
“June 6th. I passed a female Anthothreptes hypodilus visiting Leonotis. 
She flew away almost at once, but I first saw her visit two balls. One—she 
perched below it—was scantily flowered, and of the three flowers next to 
myself I saw her enter two by their natural openings, probably coming in 
contact with the anthers, &c., as she did so; the third by an artificial 
opening—by using which she definitely avoided touching the anthers. The 
difference between the flowers was marked as regards angle. The first two 
sloped straight outwards, the other away at an awkward angle. 
“ The second ball, а many-flowered one, she approached from above. She 
entered all its flowers (on the side that I could sce) by previously-made 
artificial openings. 
“I also saw a male of the same species visiting Leonotis flowers from below. 
The three or four verticillasters that I saw him probe had fairly regular 
flowers, and he entered many of these properly, but an occasional flower 4 
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