The Bionomics of >South African Insects. 343 



the acidity of the abdomen. A Foly- 

 hirma wnigma was at once eaten by 

 kestrel. I then offered him Grapliiptcrus 

 lineolcd'iis, tail first; he pecked at it and 

 received a small discharge of acicl in the 

 mouth, whereupon he shook his head 

 and began wiping his beak vigorously on 

 the percli, as though to get rid of the 

 taste. Upon the beetle being presented 

 head hrst, he took it with caution and ate 

 it. The same results were obtained with 

 Gra])liipterus tuahlbergi, G. UUncatus, and 

 G. lineolatus, they being refused when 

 presented tail first and eaten when 

 reversed. It should be noted that these 

 beetles all discharge their secretions 

 violently when captured, and therefore 

 the kestrel would probably receive a 

 comparatively small dose of the acid. 

 February 1. Gave kestrel an Atclla pludantha ; ^ he 

 seemed a good deal doubtful about it at 

 first, but finally ate it without any signs 

 of distaste. He then ate a Junonia 

 cehrene and a BijUia ilithyict with manifest 

 enjoyment. I then offered L. chrysippus ; 

 he accepted it readily, pulled oft" the 

 head which he discarded, pecked a 

 little at the tough thorax and wings, and 

 then let it drop ; on offering it again he 

 took it, gave it a few pecks and jerked it 

 away with his beak. He then ate a 

 Hamanumida dmdalus and accepted an 

 A. ccddarcna, of which he ate a small part 

 of the abdomen and threw away the rest. 

 After this he ate with pleasure a P. scsamus 

 {ncdcdensis form), J. cehrene, and B. dithyia. 

 Several Onitis edexis were then given 

 to the kestrel, which ate them readily. 

 Anonudipusplebeius was too hard for him, 

 and after five minutes' hard pecking he 

 had only succeeded in pulling off the 

 head; I therefore broke it up for him, 

 and it was promptly eaten. He then 

 refused Clinteria infuscata, Mylabris holo- 



