PALATABILITY OF SOME BRITISH INSECTS. 843 



One male taken by Vigors's Bustard, crushed and put down 

 with a head-shake ; then tasted by two Ludwig's Bustards, the 

 three birds having alternate pecks at it, the Vigors's Bustard 

 finally swallowing it. 



One female well tasted, but rejected by Wood-Swallow, Black- 

 winged Grackle, Javan Pied Mynah, and Black-chinned Laughing 

 Thrush : also by Sun- Bittern, which persevered for a long time, 

 repeatedly washing the beetle in the water-trough, and taking a 

 drink at the finish. 



Taken and pecked to pieces, and eaten bit by bit by Silver 

 Pheasant. The bird wiped his beak several times on the earth, 

 and for some little time afterwards stood opening and shutting 

 his beak like a monkey or a human being getting the flavour of 

 something tasty. 



Some of the birds which tried to eat the Timarcha shoAved no 

 special signs of finding them unpalatable. It appeared to me 

 that they finally refused them on account of the hardness of the 

 exoskeleton. Probably this prevented them getting at the 

 softer tissues containing the flavour, whether unpleasant or 

 otherwise. 



Larva of Timarcha tenebricosa. 

 (A fat bluish-black grub.) 



June 15 to 24, 1909. One eaten with apparent relish by 

 Meerkat, which only delayed seizing it for about two seconds to 

 rub it in the sawdust and smell it. This was the same Meerkat 

 that on a previous occasion had eaten Euchelia jacobcece and 

 rejected the Coccinella. 



One taken at once by the same Capuchin that had eaten 

 E. jacobaxe and rejected Coccinella ; but after crushing it between 

 his teeth and getting the flavour, the monkey at once took it out 

 in his hands, contemplated it for a few seconds, and moving his 

 lips the while as if sampling the flavour, then letting it fall, 

 retired to the back of his cage, salivated and heaved twice as if 

 going to vomit. 



Another Capuchin in the same cage now picked up the crushed 

 larva, tasted it, and put it down ; and neither of the monkeys 

 touched it again. So I gave it to the Meerkat, which ate it as 

 greedily as it did the first. 



One given to Armadillo was eaten after a good deal of smelling. 

 A second was eaten without hesitation. 



One given to Dent's Monkey was eagerly taken and tasted, 

 but almost at once dropped. The monkey did not taste it again, 

 although he was interested in it and played with it for some 

 little time. 



One given to Mona Monkey, which behaved in much the same 

 way as Dent's Monkey, but played with the larva for a longer 

 time. 



One given to Capuchin (sp. a) was taken and chewed up, but 



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