MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 349 



considerable size, even when they just debouch from the mountains, and are 

 the haunt of Mergansers, Golden-eyes, and probably many other rare water 

 birds. 



The second bird mentioned as having been shot in 1885-6 was killed in the 

 Sibsagar district. 



E C. STUART BAKER, F. Z. S. 



Dibrugarh, Assam, 



mh May, 1903. 



No. VII.— THE ENEMIES OF BUTTERFLIES. 



In the course of a most interesting paper " On the Bionomics of South African 

 Insects," published in Part III of the Transactions of the Entomological 

 Society for 1902, and which includes a few records from India and Burma, 

 Lt.-Col. Yerbury sums up his observations as follows : — 



" As regards my experience of birds catching butterflies, it appears to have 

 occurred more frequently in damp than in dry districts ; e. g., it was frequent 

 in Ceylon, rare in places with moderate or small rainfall, such as Campbell- 

 pore, Poona and Aden. 



" In my opinion an all-sufficient reason for the rarity of the occurrence 

 exists in the fact that in butterflies the edible matter is a minimum, while the 

 inedible, wings, etc., is a maximum." 



Lt.-Col. Bingham adds some instances from his experiences in Burma, giving 

 the names of the birds and captured butterflies. 



During the past ten years I have been almost exclusively at more or less dry 

 stations, viz., Bhuj, Poona, Aden, Deesa, and Quetta. My own observations as 

 to the rarity of the attacks by birds on butterflies tend to confirm those of Col. 

 Yerbury. I have unfortunately made no notes on the subject, but, speaking 

 from memory, I can only recall a few instances of birds actually catching 

 butterflies which I have witnessed. The birds were two species of Bee-eater 

 (Merons viridis and M. apiaster), the Roller (Coracias indica), and the King- 

 crow (Dicrurus ater). Of the victims I can remember only one with any 

 certainty, viz., a Lycamid, probably Polyommatus boeticns, which I saw captured 

 by a Bee-eater (M. apiaster) in Kashmir. I have seen one or two other birds 

 make a dash at a butterfly, and pursue it without catching it, as puppies some- 

 times do, but this may have been mere playfulness. 



In the dry districts where I have been stationed, the larger Asilidce (predacious 

 flies) take some toll of butterflies, and especially day-flying moths. At Quetta 

 there is a large Asdid, 1| inches long, which is most voracious, and apparently 

 preys upon insects of all orders. I have several times seen this fly catch 

 Pyrameis cardui, and have subsequently captured it with its prey. 



I have not, so far as I can remember, seen dragonflies catch butterflies, 

 though they prey on many insects, and possibly they sometimes capture a 

 butterfly. 



Lizards, too, seem to confine their attacks chiefly to insects of other 

 families, though I once saw a lizard catch a small Hesperid (Ger/enes 

 arsana). 



