( Ixi ) 



used to creep craftily to within striking distance of a group 

 of butterflies, snatch a victim, and dart back into the bush 

 with their prey, or, as quite frequently happened, with 

 nothing but a mouthful of wing. Tn this connection, it is 

 perhaps worth noting that after the Cdllidri/as, the most 

 abundant butterflies belonged to species with ' tailed ' hind 

 wings, such as the Pajnlios of the j)rotesilaus group and 

 Nymphalines of the genus Megalura. These ' tails ' may 

 possibly play an important part in the protection of the 

 species by enabling the insect to escape with the loss of part 

 of the ' tail.' The extremely long ' tails ' of Pajnlio X)ro- 

 tesilaus and its allies are particularly noticeable, and I have 

 often observed that these Pajnlios usually keep their wings 

 quivering with great rapidity while settled, which would have 

 a tendency to attract the attention of a lizard to the ' tails.' 



"It is a curious fact that the South American Acraeine 

 butterflies of the genus Actinote exhibit no fear whatever of 

 any enemy. I have repeatedly seen them, especially in 

 Ecuador, settled on damp patches on river shores in groups of 

 twenty or thirty. They are quite an ideal butterfly to collect 

 in a hot climate, all one has to do being to sit down beside a 

 group and pick up the specimens one by one with the fingers. 

 They do not make the least attempt to fly, or even to open 

 their wings. In these groups one sometimes comes across 

 individuals of the Nymphaline genus Eresia, always of the 

 species mimicking the Actinote with which it is found. In a 

 group of twenty or so Actinote one may find perhaps one or 

 two of the Eresias. But the latter do not appear to have much 

 confidence in their protective resemblance to the distasteful 

 Actinote, as, instead of sitting tight, they invariably give them- 

 selves away by rising with a slow laboured flight. 



" I was much interested in Mr. Marshall's mention of M. 

 Jelski's opinion that the crest of the bird Muscivora regia 

 served as a lure for butterflies. What appears to be an 

 analogous case came under my notice in Ecuador. In tropical 

 South America there is found a genus of arboreal lizards 

 called AnoUs, usually of small size, and including a great 

 many species. The males of these lizards possess a brilliantly 

 coloured, laterally flattened pouch on the throat, which is 



