110



Dr. Graham Renshaw,



caterpillar and still retains its warning-colours differently dis¬

tributed ” ; they put it to the test, and some at least of them are

perfectly satisfied with the flavour of the moth, although they did

not care for the caterpillar. The colouring does not put them off,

they are not deceived by it.


Lastly, somebody once suggested (I don’t know who it was,

but I hope it was not one of my old friends) that metallic colours

were a protection, the inference being, I presume, that the lower

animals were aware that metal was not fit for food. I don’t suppose

it ever entered into a bird’s mind to bother about whether it was or

was not, but it is certain that some birds are attracted by metal, or

in fact anything that glitters, and it is equally certain that insects

with metallic colouring are greedily devoured.


There are still many things in this world which hitherto have

not been satisfactorily explained, and some of them will probably not

be properly understood while this world lasts ; but in any case don’t

let us credit our feathered friends with being greater fools than our¬

selves, or having inferior eyesight. If I can see a red-underwing

moth at rest on a granite wall or a lichen-covered tree-trunk, surely

I may credit a bird with even more acute eyesight."



SHEATHBILLS.


By Graham Renshaw, M.D., F.R.S.E.


“ We find in Chionis a connecting-link, closing the narrow gap

between the Plovers and Gulls of the present day .”—Cones and

Kidder.


There are certain groups of birds which exhibit remarkable

outward resemblance to other groups with which they have no real

affinity. The Old World Hornbills, for instance, with their huge

beaks and weird cries, recall the big-billed, noisy Toucans of America,

though the two groups are poles apart. The long-winged, rapidly-

flying Swifts are popularly classed with the Swallows rather than with


* [Might not a human being detect some such object which could be passed over

by a bird, owing to the much higher powers of reasoning in the former, i . e .,

of putting two and two together ?—Ed.]



