322 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [June, 



one man to judge how far even apparently uninteresting results may 

 eventually tell for or against a theory — as, too, Mr. Poulton has 

 evidently forgotten some of those facts .... I think I cannot do 

 better than publish the whole of my observations in detail" (pp. 

 463, 464). 



"The most interesting results" made use of by Poulton 68 are 

 remarks upon only four species of insects eaten by birds, while 

 Butler's notes deal with at least forty-seven species of insects and 

 other invertebrates. Moreover, without mentioning Butler's results, 

 Poulton discusses the results of his own tests with lizards and a 

 marmoset of three other species of insects, which Butler had fed to 

 birds. Poulton gratuitously observes: "If I had no more notes 

 than those supplied by Mr. Butler, their preparation for publication 

 would be only a work of a few hours; but these notes are a very 

 small fraction of the whole." 69 The fact remains, however, that the 

 large "fraction of the whole," with unimportant exceptions remains 

 unpublished to-day. As a result of this series of experiments, 

 Butler concludes that "no insect in any stage, excepting the red- 

 tailed bumble-bee (which, by the way, I only offered to the missel- 

 thrush), was rejected by all my birds; those insects which were 



refused by certain species were eagerly devoured by others 



In the second place, so far from my birds learning by experience to 

 reject with scorn that which they had proved to be unpalatable, 

 I found that in some instances they seemed to acquire a taste for 

 larvae previously refused. Birds are very intelligent, but their 

 memories are ridiculously short" (p. 473). 



Butler's third paper 70 enumerates tests of 17 invertebrates offered 

 to birds, with the following principal conclusion: "My experiments 

 have convinced me that the tastes of birds not only differ in individ- 

 uals of the same species, but that the same individuals in consecutive 

 years vary as to their likes and dislikes." 



Unfortunately, the experiments of Butler cannot be compared 

 with those of Pocock, who also used British insects and both native 

 and exotic birds, as Butler does not record the number of times an 

 insect was refused or accepted, but only tells what species of birds 

 ate it and which did not. Probably the only coincidence of the same 



68 Rep. British A. A. S., 1887 (1888), pp. 762, 763. 



69 Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1889, pp. 359, 360. 



" Notes made during the present year on the Acceptance or Rejection of 

 Insects by Birds," Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Sixth Ser., Vol. VI, 1890, pp. 

 324-327. 



