Production of Mimetic BesemUances among Biitterjlies. 369 



haeticus : Major Nurse, " Journ. Bomb. Soc," xv, p. 349 

 (India). 

 25 bis. 3Ierops leschcncmlti, Vieill. (Leschenault's Bee- 

 Eater). " These birds never eat the wings of butter- 

 flies. You see one of them swoop on to a butterfly 

 close at hand ; then you hear a little click of the bill, 

 and as the bird flies off the pair of wings come 

 slowly fluttering to the ground " : W. Davison, " Stray 

 Feathers," vi, 1878, p. 68. 



26. Mclittophagtis swinhoci, Hume (Swinhoe's Bee-Eater). 



(a) " Frequently capture Catojjsiliae, especially when 

 these butterflies are travelling in thousands along the 

 river-valleys " (F. Lewis) : R. Trim en, Proc. Ent. Soc. 

 1897, p. xci (Ceylon).— (&) " The butterflies hawked 

 and eaten by the Bee-Eaters belong to the follow- 

 ing species, Fcqnlio erithonius, P. saiycdon, Charaxcs 

 athamcts, Cyrestis thyodamas, and Terias hecahe. A 

 meagre list, for I am certain I saw the Bee-Eaters 

 swoop for and catch Prioncris, JHehomoia, Junonia and 

 Precis. I also particularly noticed that the birds 

 never went for a Banais or Eiiploea, or for Papilio 

 onacarciis and P. xenocles, which are mimics of Danais, 

 though two or three species of Danais, four or five of 

 Euploea, and the two above-mentioned mimicking 

 Papilios simply swarmed along the whole road " : 

 Lt.-Col. C. T. Bingham, Trans, Ent. Soc, 1902, p. 362 

 (Burma). 



27. Coracias indicus, L. (Indian Roller). Observed catch- 

 ing butterflies in India : Major Nurse, " J. Bomb. Soc," 

 XV, p. 349. 



28. Coracias affinis, McCl. (Burmese Roller), " Ataran 



River, 30, ii, 1881. Saw a Coracias affinis fly to a 

 tree holding a Cyrestis thyodamas in its mouth" 

 Lt.-Col. C. T. Bingham (note from diary). 



29. Halcyon smyrnensis, L. (White-breasted Kingfisher). 



{a) " Very common, feeding indiscriminately on fresh- 

 or salt-water fish, crabs, beetles and butterflies. I 

 have seen them capture these last in the manner of 

 flycatchers (Muscicapidae), darting from a sprig and 

 seizing them in the air " : E. L. Layard, " Ann. Mag. 

 N. H." (2) xii, 1853. p. 172 (Ceylon).— (5) " I have 

 observed one launch out from a high tree, in the 

 manner described by Layard, on a butterfly " : Capt. 

 Legge, " Birds of Ceylon," i, p. 300 (1878). 



