MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1017 



year's Darwin exhibit at tlie Natural History Museum at South Kensington will 

 testify to. And the resemblance in living specimens is slill more deceptive. 



Here, surely, no sketch of imagination can bring environmental colouration 

 into play — that would require the moths to be gieen. 



To me the recital of the above argumenls seem to prove conclusively that 

 whatever the effect of environment on the colouration of animals it cannot 

 explain all the known facts, whereas protective colouration (including warn- 

 ing colours') through the agency of natural selection, docs. 



While on the subject of Colonel Burton's article perhaps I may be peimitted 

 to add a note to his remarks anent wanton slaughter by tigers. 



Some years ago in Ganjam a tigress, accompanied by two cubs still too 

 young to do their own killing, butchered four cows at different points sieveial 

 furlongs apart in the same night. Only one was partly eaten and a native 

 shikari shot the tigress at this kill while I was preparing to sit over one of the 

 others, not having heard till too late that there were more than cne. Ihe 

 explanation in this case may be that the mother was instructing her cubs in 

 the art of cattle killing, 



C. E. C. FISCHER. 



CoiMBATORE, \th December 1909. 



No. XXXIV. -ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE BUTTERFLY 

 ATELLA ALCIPPE, CRAMER, IN TRAVANCOKE, 



Through the courtesy of the Director of the Government Museum, Tiivan- 

 driim. I have had sent me a specimen of the above butterfly, which was 

 captured by Mr. Hockin at Kalasagarem in June 190fi. This is the first occur- 

 rence of this iusect in Travancore. and I was not aware, until the last number 

 of the Journal appeared (No. 3, Vol, XIX), that it occurred in S, India at all 

 but Mr, Bell states that it is very local in Kanara. 



We can now understand how the butteifly reached Cey'on. which before 

 was inexplicable. When I described the Ceylon form under the name 

 A.alcippe race ceijlonica (V o\. XIV. p. 716). the nearest habitat then known 

 was Sikhim and the Andaman Islands. The specimen from Travancore 

 conforms to the type, and is markedly different from the Ceylon race, which 

 is distinguished by the uniformly black apex to the forewing. The late 

 Mr de Niceville gave a useful list of the known species of the group in his 

 paper entitled " On new and little known butterflies, mostly from the 

 Oriental region," Vol. XIV. p. 243. 



N. MANDERS, Lielt.-Col., f.z.s.. f,e.s, 

 Colombo, December 1909. 



