S'lrds in Relation to their Prey. 61 



her best to palm it off on A, following his movements and 

 keeping it held round to his bill. A, apparently not under- 

 standing snob unwonted attention, twisted and dodged and 

 did his best to escape her, but she persisted and at last 

 "cornered" him. Either perceiving for the first time that 

 he was being offered food or else to get rid of her impor- 

 tunity, he now snatched the Amcmris away and swallowed it 

 after some difficulty with the wings, B meantime sat quite 

 still beside him on the perch looking innocently away, but 

 took an occasional sly glance round. A's ready acceptance 

 may have reassured her, or else she may have been by now 

 ready once more for Amauris, for, after a few minutes' 

 interval, she readily seized a seventh. It was dropped, but 

 perhaps accidentally, for on my reoffering it she ate it at 

 once. 



I then offered Amauris ocJilea (the smaller of our black 

 and white species). The first was eaten after considerable 

 hesitation, the second rejected — thrown right away, — yet 

 eaten on being reoflfered. The third and fourth were eaten 

 only after a great deal of reoffering and persuasion on my 

 part. 



Now came some interesting contrasted rejections and 

 acceptances, the latter showing that the former were not 

 due to sheer repletion. She tasted and refused an Amauris 

 alhimaculata, and thereafter refused it emphatically and per- 

 sistently without tasting; but she readily ate a larval 

 migratory locust. She again persistently refused the A. 

 alhimaculata, but readily ate another migratory locust. She 

 refused the Amauris emphatically yet again, but very readily 

 ate another butterfly^ the Nymphaline Precis cebrene. She 

 refused the Amauris yet again and repeatedly, yet readily 

 ate another Precis cebrene. 



In the afternoon I reoffered the same ^1. alhimaculata (an 

 easily recognised individual owing to peculiar wing-damage). 

 The bird took it in the point of her bill, but made no attempt 

 to eat it, simply holding it there for some minutes, though A 

 made repeated attempts to take it from her. Finally, he 

 succeeded, and ate it. B then, stimulated perhaps by A's 



