Birds in Relation to their Prey. 47 



suspioiouslj, and finally decided against it. V> examined it 

 closely too, and ended by slightly tasting it and taking it from 

 the forceps, but she too was very suspicious, and in the end 

 dropped it. Even then she wavered, for she leant right over 

 it and was obviously debating whether to pick it up again. 

 But she didn^t. A Teracohis j^hlegyas (" Purple-Tip ''; 

 was taken in its bill by each bird, but suspiciously dropped. 

 A SjjJiingomorpJta chlorea vcas eagerly eaten by each. The 

 Teracolus was perhaps reminiscent of Mtjlothris or Belenois, 

 both low-grade insects, or else, being somewhat low-grade 

 itself, the birds were not hungry enough for it. 



I reoftered the II. misippus after half an hour's interval. 

 Both A and C still regarded it with the greatest sus[)icion, 

 and refused steatlily for certainly from two to three minutes 

 to have anything whatsoever to do with it. Finally, C 

 accepted it, ran it through his bill several times^ tasting it 

 very thoroughly, and swallowed it. I offered a Teracolus 

 jMegyas with wings. It was taken by A, thoroughly tasted 

 and swallowed. 



I later examined A^s second pellet. It contained the 

 abdomen, hind-wing ,and greater part of thorax of the Acrcea 

 acara, the thorax and abdomen of the Danaida, and the 

 head of one or other of these two, as well as a few legs and 

 smaller indistinguishable particles. No portions of other 

 butterflies or of Sphinyomorpha cJdorea. 



Comments. The experiment was full of interest. The 

 refusal of Precis natalensis, offered for a chano;e with wino-s, 

 was presumably due to its resemblance to Acrcca acara, 

 which the birds should have met with fairly frequently when 

 wild. The eating by A of the normally refused butterflies 

 Danaida clirysippus (he had warned against it only yester- 

 day) and of ^4. acara under my persuasion was interesting, 

 but the results were yet more so ; though they are paralleled 

 by the effect produced by such butterflies on several other 

 species of birds on which I have experimented. The lesson 

 was effective, for the Hoopoes would not touch another 

 Danaida. Then the language by which they tried to convey 

 to me that they regarded it as unfit for food — in the then 



