( xxxii ) 
given one to a bird and two to some lizards, Lacerta viridis. 
The result was described by INIr. Pocock as follows : — 
“Commander J. J. Walker sent me, about a week ago, one 
of the moths you are interested in, and I gave it to a bird, a 
black-winged Crackle (Graculijira melanojjtera), a kind of 
starling from Java. I have tested this bird before with 
insects and have known him reject some which other birds will 
eat, thus showing that he is to a certain extent fastidious and 
not like some birds which will eat almost anything, He took 
it at once and after pecking it and pulling it about for a little 
time, swallowed it. He showed no sign of finding the moth in 
any way distasteful — that is to say he did not once wipe his 
beak, or shake his head, or behave as other birds do when they 
taste anything nasty. Having confidence in his powers of 
discrimination, 1 had no hesitation in concluding the moth to 
be palatable. 
“This was borne out by my experiment with the two yoii sent 
me this morning. I threw one into a cage of green lizards. 
One of them seized it at once and swallowed it in ten seconds. 
I then threw in the other ho})ing that a second lizard would 
take it, but the first was on to it in a moment and ate it as 
soon as ever he had adjusted it in his mouth so as to swallow 
it head first. I noticed that he squeezed some fluid out of its 
posterior end, but even when this came into contact with his 
palate and tongue he gave no sign of tasting anything 
disagreeable. The lizards were Lacerta viridis. There was a 
saucei’ half full of mealworms in the lizards’ cage, so there is 
no reason to suppose that they were specially hungry.” 
Mr. Eltringham added that he was greatly indebted to Mr. 
Pocock for so carefully carrying out and recording the experi¬ 
ment. The result ajipeared to show that the distastefulness of 
the larvae was due to the particles of the foodplant contained 
in the digestive tract. The inedibility, though not in this case 
due to peculiar properties elaborated by the metabolism of the 
larva, might nevertheless, under conceivable circumstances, 
have considerable importance for the larva itself. Distaste¬ 
fulness must have a beginning, and so long as it was a question 
of surviving or being eaten, the fact rather than the cause of 
the inedibility would be of first impoi’tance. 
