244 Lilian J. Gould's experiments 



tame jackdaw. The bird in question had been taken 

 unfledged in June of the previous year, and reared in 

 captivity. He had never seen larv?o, except those I gave 

 him, unless some might occasionally drop from a beech 

 tree, the boughs of which overhung his cage in the 

 garden. 



May 30th. — I took some larva3 of D. cceruleoccpkala, 

 feeding freely exposed on pear trees; they were blue, 

 yellow, and black, not hairy, very conspicuous. One 

 was given to the jackdaw, which had been fed early in the 

 morning (this was midday), and so was not very hungry. 

 The bird looked at the larva suspiciously for a long 

 time, and would not take it. Then he seized it, and, on 

 tasting it, shook his head violently, evidently disliking 

 it. He then dropped it, but picked it up and tried it 

 again, shook his head as before, and finally put it down 

 on the floor of the cage and refused to eat it. 



May 31st. — I tried the jackdaw with a common smooth 

 green larva (species unknown) ; he ate it at once with 

 avidity. 



June 20th. — I took two larva? of Cucullia verbasci, 

 feeding together exposed on upper side of leaves of 

 mullein ; they were green, yellow, and black, very con- 

 spicuous, not hairy. 



June 21st. — The jackdaw was purposely not fed, and 

 by the middle of the day he was very hungry, for he 

 carried his empty food-vessel and stood it up against the 

 bars of the cage, an invariable habit when really hungry. 

 The largest larva was offered to him. At first he refused 

 it, then took it, but dropped it instantly, shaking his 

 head, and never touched it again. He appeared quite 

 subdued for a time, and sat shaking his head and 

 swallowing. Nor would he take anything else offered 

 him at all for a little while, but finally ate a gooseberry 

 with relish. 



The unpleasant attribute in both species seemed to be 

 taste. Mr. Poulton mentions iProc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 

 March 1st, 1887) Mr. J. Jenner Weir having experi- 

 mented with D. ccerideocepliala, " using many species of 

 birds and lizards," and says the larva; were "disregarded 

 by all the birds," or "examined when moving, but not 

 eaten." This, jie says, gave "strong support" to Prof. 

 Wallace's suggestion, "that brilliant and conspicuous 

 larvae would be refused by some at least of their enemies," 



