126 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



In regard to the Tupaia, Mr. Finn states that this animal has a very 

 strong objection to the " protected " Danaince and Papilio arisio/ochice, 

 as it so constantly refused them, and in case of the former, absolutely, 

 and not, as with the birds, merely showing dislike by preferring other 

 species. Of the tastes of the frog, sufficient data was not obtained to 

 warrant any conclusions. 



Regarding birds (the Babblers especially) the author concludes as 

 follows : 



"i. That there is a general appetite for butterflies among insectivor- 

 ous birds, even though they are rarely seen when wild to attack them." 



"2. That many, probably most species, dislike, if not intensely, at 

 any rate in comparison with other butterflies, the ' warningly-coloured ' 

 Danaince, Acrcea vioice, Delias eucharis, and Papilio aristolochice ; of 

 these the last being the most distasteful, and the Danaifice the least so.'' 



"3. That the mimics of these are at any rate relatively palatable, 

 and that the mimicry is commonly effectual under natural conditions." 



"4. That each bird has to separately acquire its experience, and 

 well remembers what it has learned." 



"That therefore on the whole, the theory of Wallace and Bates is 

 supported by the facts detailed," in these papers, " so far as they deal 

 with birds (and the one mammal used)." " Professor Poulton's sugges- 

 tion that animals may be forced by hunger to eat unpalatable forms is 

 also more than confirmed, as the unpalatable forms were commonly 

 eaten without the stimulus of actual hunger — generally," he adds, " with- 

 out signs of dislike," which shows that, under the stress of hunger, they 

 would likely exhibit even less nicety of selection. 



To future experimenters, Mr. Finn offers the following hints, derived 

 from his own experiments : 



"i. Use animals at liberty for experimenting with if possible." 



"2. If these are not available, confine your subjects singly, and feed 



them well and naturally^ letting them be neither hungry nor pampered. 



Cages should be of portable size (about two feet every way) and made 



(for birds) of half-inch mesh wire netting with plain wooden floor without 



a tray. This is to prevent insects from getting out or being concealed." 



"3. Use wild-caught specimens in preference to hand-reared ones." 



"4. Rcincviber that the best and often the only ivay to determine an 



animafs tastes is to offer it a choice" 



¥. M. Wej!Ster. 



