LEPIDOPTEROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN CEYLON IN DECEMBER. 163 



great natural beauty. Atella phalanta, one of the two Sinhalese 

 Argynnids, was fairly common along the banks bordering the walk, 

 with the usual Terias, and one or two Danais septenrionis : and I came 

 across the only specimen of Papilio af/anieurnon during my visit to 

 Ceylon which allowed me to observe it closely. It was feeding Avith 

 wings quivering almost as rapidly as those of Plnsia gamma, and 

 dashing restlessly from fiowerhead to flowerhead of a Eupatonum -like 

 plant in a clearing in the jungle which was hung with the Crimson 

 Passion-flower. 



A visit to Lady Horton's walk in the afternoon yielded one 

 specimen of the other fritillary native to Ceylon, Arf/t/nnis hi/perbins, 

 but it was too late for many butterflies to be on the wing. The 

 following morning broke rainy and cold, but, on the weather clearing 

 somewhat, we went ofi' in rickshaws to the Rambodda Pass, certainly 

 the most beautiful of the many beautiful views we saw in Ceylon. As 

 I stood watching, " The blue haze-cradled mountains spread away," a 

 familiar friend, in the shape of I'yrameis canhii, settled close to my 

 feet. Though it was still showery when we returned to Nuwara Eliya 

 we went to our favourite Lady Havelock's Walk, and, just before 

 entering the wood in which it begins, I picked up a female Tmides 

 darsins, evidently killed by the cold of the night before. It was lying 

 in a ditch and still beaded with dew. It was quite perfect, except for 

 a patch torn from one of the forewings, and its abdomen was fairly 

 full of ova. Later on in the day, I found a Junnnia iphita, also quite 

 fresh, lying dead in the roadway at Queen's Cottage. Indeed, as far 

 as I could judge, the mortality amongst butterflies at Nuwara Eliya 

 from cold must be considerable. Yet from other causes it must be 

 even greater, for, whilst a dead butterfly or part of one is an unusual 

 sight in England, there, in the highlands of Ceylon, I used frequently 

 to come across their wings, most often single or several close together, 

 but sometimes with thorax attached, and sometimes almost the entire 

 insect. This is of course exclusive of those I found killed by the cold. 

 All the wings, etc., I found, were under some trees bordering, for about 

 one hundred and fifty yards, both sides of the road which led to the 

 Hotel where I was staying, I found none anywhere else, though I 

 searched diligently in all the neighbouring roads and ditches. Hence 

 I concluded that something must have devoured them in the trees, 

 probably birds, for though lizards — geckos — abounded on the lawns, I 

 could find no fragments there. Curiously enough, among the 

 " disjecta membra" were Danais septentrionis and Euploea aeola, pro- 

 tected species, but I noticed that the only cases in which the Avhole of 

 the bodies had not disappeared was with these. Three Papilios, P. 

 polytes, P. agame)nnon, and P. demoleus, were amongst the victims ; but 

 by far the heaviest toll was taken of Hi/polimnas bolina. 



We went once more to Lady Havelock's walk on December 18th, 

 the last day of our stay at Nuwara Eliya, but came across nothing 

 fresh there except Vanessa haronica, a solitary individual of which we 

 saw sucking up moisture from the road after a heavy shower, and our 

 return visit to Kandy proved most disappointing, as it rained almost 

 continuously from the moment of our arrival, until we left that 

 beautiful but enervating spot to re-embark at Colombo for our "journey 

 homeward to habitual self." The single hour's intermission from the 

 deluge which we were vouchsafed, gave us the opportunity to re-visit Lady 



