9M JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1890. 



conspicuous, because of the broad white band aforesaid. It is, 



however, a very foul feeder and greedily fond of mhowa, so much 



so, that it can be approached and taken by the fingers while engaged 



in its meal. One year I took several of these and C. fabius and 



a few C. athamas, at a Sirris tree, Acacia speciosa, which had a bough 



injured in some way, and from which a juice exuded. Several other 



kinds of insects, chiefly ants and flies, were attracted by this juice, 



and a number of the small green bee-eater, Merops viridis, the magpie 



robin, Copsychm salauris, and the king crow or drongo shrike, 



Buchanga atra, were attracted by the insects. The wings of 



several of the Chara.res that I took had bits clipped out of them by 



the beaks of the birds. Toddy is also a good bait for butterflies, 



after it has fermented a little. I was induced to try it after seeing 



the attraction the Sirris juice had, and I found it very successful. 



FAMILY 2, LEMONIID.E. 



SUB-FAMILY 2, NEMEOBIIN^.' 

 52. Abisara mffusa, Moore (614). A sprightly little creature, 

 very bold and not easily frightened. It hops and skips about the 

 leaves in a jerky, merry sort of way. Its colour is a reddish-brown 

 with a few paler bars across its wings. 



NOTES ON THE ECONOMIC BOTANY OF THE 

 CUCURBITACE^ OF WESTERN INDIA. 



By Dr. W. Dymock. 



(Read at the Society' 's Meeting on 7th July 1890.) 



Of the seventy-one species belonging to this Order, described in 

 the " Flora of British India," thirty are found in Western India ; 

 and as the time of year for observing these plants is now approaching, 

 a few remarks upon their properties and economic uses may not be 

 without interest. The genus is divided by botanists into three 

 tribes, viz., Cucumerinece, Orthospermece and Zanoniee ; in the first, the 

 ovules are almost always horizontal as in the cucumber ; in the 

 second, they are erect ; and in the third, pendulous. All the plants 



