some Rest-attitudes of Butterflies. 103 
Precis natalica, Feld., a somewhat dingy species, though 
generally distributed, was much less common than the two 
preceding. It is somewhat of a shade-lover and usually 
settled on the ground or on a leaf, its wings more spread 
than clelia or crebrene. Except when settled in the shade 
its tail was directed towards the sun. One was seen to 
close and open its wings, another was watched for some 
time and observed over and over again to orient itself 
correctly, and twice to close its wings so as to leave 
practically no shadow, 
Precis elgiva, Hew., is not uncommon in woods near 
Durban, it was noted as sitting with wings fully expanded 
and tail to the sun. 
Precis sesamus, Trim., is a large, dark, handsome butter- 
fly which reminds one of Vanessa i, L. It is fond of 
hiding itself in ditches and under dark banks, often 
several together ; this is not always done with a view to 
seek shelter from the wind, though on some occasions that 
seemed to be the object. It pitches with the wings fully 
expanded and close to the ground, just as P. natalica ; in 
this position it is less conspicuous than might be supposed, 
especially when it settles on dark clay, or peaty soil, as it 
appeared to be fond of doing. Both Dr. Dixey and I saw 
it orient itself like its congeners, sometimes with adjust- 
ment. On one occasion only did I see it close its wings 
over its back, casting, as a result, a minimum shadow. 
Another Precis, nearly the colour of the red soil, but 
more orange in tint, was observed to orient with tail to the 
sun. This I saw several times but missed; it was on 
August 18th, on somewhat open ground at the edge of a 
large banana garden above the Congella woods, Durban. 
I thought at the time that this was P. octavia, Cram., the 
wet-season form of P. sesamus, but it is just possible that 
it may have been P. cloantha, Cram., which I took on the 
other side of Durban. With the possible exception of this 
doubtful Precis all my remarks about South African 
butterflies apply to dry-season forms. 
Hamanumida dedalus, Fab., is a common African 
Nymphalid that we only met with on the banks of the 
Zambesi. We both noted that it usually flies near the 
ground, on which it settles with the wings closely adpressed 
to the surface. It occasionally flaps its wings, but as long 
as they are still it is very inconspicuous, its grey colour 
approximating closely to that of the sand, the whitish spots 
