58 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on 



on him. B, however, not having had his experience of it, 

 seized it and tugged at it, and was greatly annoyed because 

 I would not allow her to have it. 



The first larva had lost some of its virulent smell by the 

 time it reached the Hornbills, but the second was fresh and 

 would, nevertheless, at first have been greedily eaten by both 

 birds. 



Evidently they are not particular as to taste. Evidently, 

 too, the larva relies primarily on its appeal to the bird's 

 internal anatomy. Other interesting points were A's pro- 

 fiting from his experience, his recognition of the larva, seen 

 again, by (doubtless) its appearance, both birds' lack of 

 instinctive knowledge of what was fit to eat, and B's failure 

 to profit by A's example. 



521. Feb. 17. — A snatched and swallowed in turn the 

 following butterflies with wings attached : Acrtea acara, 

 Amauris alhimaculata, Acrcea natalica. I noticed now that 

 there was no food in the cage, so in case the acceptances 

 should be due to hunger I gave the birds a good feed of 

 locusts, then (to A) an Acrcea anemosa, three A. acara, and 

 three A. natalica. He swallowed recklessly at first, then 

 with growing hesitation, and on my now offering yet another 

 A. acara, he just took it in his bill and rejected it, as also a 

 wingless Charaxes hrutus. He now became extremely rest- 

 less and apparently perturbed, wandering and finally rushing 

 from perch to perch, clinging by his feet to the wire — a 

 thing he has never done yet, — and banging his wings violently 

 against it, seizing his companion by the long feathers of the 

 occiput and shaking her violently to and fro, all the time 

 with what seemed a look of terror. This went on for ten 

 minutes or more, w^hen he gradually quieted down again, 

 and finally took up his usual position at one end of a perch. 

 I now offered him an Acrcea natalica. 



He refused it absolutely without tasting. He at once ate 

 the wingless Charaxes hrutus reoffered. And he again for a 

 time refused the Acrcea natalica, but on my continuing to 

 persist he finally snatched first the abdomen, then the thorax. 



