( Ixxii ) 



let go the ' white,' and that the butterfly did not escape as I 

 have seen some Lycaenids and Atella do. Moreover, it seemed 

 to me at the time that the bird did not go for the ' white ' 

 with the same alacrity as when catching Lycaenids or Atella, 

 but rather as if it did not much care whether it caught the 

 butterfly or not. 



" There were very many butterflies drinking at the puddle: — 

 Of Papilios — leonidas, policenes, ridleyanus, demodocus, Esp., 

 a marbled black and white one [angolanus, Goeze] I have not 

 met before (common here, I send you some), and one of the 

 black ones with broad metallic green band [P. phorcas] ; 

 of Pierines — about half a dozen species of ' whites ' (they 

 are always very numerous), several species of Terias, and one 

 or two other species ; of Nymphalines — practically only Atella, 

 but this in great abundance; of Lycaenids — several species 

 in abundance. 



" It is a great misfortune that Acraeines are so very scarce 

 here : a few encedon are practically all one sees. If there 

 were many drinking among the other butterflies it would be 

 very interesting; for the smaller species are just about the 

 size for the wagtail. 



"It is most interesting to see how the various types of 

 butterflies sort themselves out when thus collected. Pap. 

 ridleyanus (quite abundant now) always settle all together, 

 so that I put my net over four of them at once ! All the 

 ' whites ' of sundry genera group themselves together— the 

 yellow Terias ditto, and the brown Atella never mix with the 

 others. The Lycaenids only don't seem to group themselves. 

 Is P. ridleyanus a rarity ? I am awfully pleased to meet 

 with it here. I have only caught tivo Acraea zetes the whole 

 time I have collected here, but I once saw a single example 

 sitting beside a group of ridleyanus. 



" I thought you might like to communicate the above 

 observations to the Entomological Society, and so have used 

 up a lot of very valuable paper by writing on one side only ! 

 Good mark, please ! " 



The inaria female op Hypolimnas misippus captured 



AND DEVOURED BY A BIRD AT DURBAN.— Prof. POULTON read 



the following record contained in a letter received from 



