382 Mr. G. A. K. Marshall on Birds as a Factor in the 



MalacoptUa fiLSca, Gm. (White-breasted Softwing). " The 

 Prince von Wied found in the stomach of Monastes 

 fusca, a Bucconid, 'a large butterriy which crumpled 

 up together filled almost the \Yhole stomach ' " ; 

 E. Haase, I.e. p. 101. 



Nyctihius a^thereus, Wied. " These wide-mouthed birds 

 are a particular enemy of various large and beautiful 

 Lepidoptera, as I have been able to fully satisfy 

 myself They consume these insects in quantities, 

 and the traces of their meals may be found in the 

 large rejected wings which lie about in numbers on 

 the ground in the Brazilian forests . . . Thus may 

 be found the largest and most beautiful of the 

 Brazilian Lepidoptera, [Morpho^ menelaus, [Caligo^ 

 idomeneus, Fhalaena agrippina [Nodua stria:, L.], and 

 many others " : Max. Prinz zu Wied, " Beitr. z. 

 Naturgesch. von Brazilien," iii (1), p. 309, (18S0). 



Sandpiper. The butterflies which often collect in large 

 numbers in damp places were not observed to be 

 attacked by insectivorous birds " except certainly by 

 the Sandpipers (Strandlaiifern ), which, like the 

 lizards, are never particular " : P. Hahnel, " Iris," 1890, 

 p. 317 (Amazons). 



Birds not identified : — 



(a) "I observed a pair of birds that were bringing 

 butterflies an;) dragonflies to their young, and although 

 the Helico'/iii swarmed in the neicrhbourhood and are 

 of weak flight so as to be easily caught, the birds 

 never brought one to their nest " : T. Belt, " Naturalist 

 in Nicaragua," p. 316. — (h) Of a Brazilian bird called 

 " Suruqua," the author states that " its principal food 

 consists of butterflies and other soft-boiiied insects" : 

 T. P. Biiig- Wither, " Pioneering in S. Brazil," i, 

 p. 292. — (c) " No other group of butterflies is so 

 much sought after by birds as the Pieridae, and these 

 freebooters have often snatched away from me at my 

 very side the most beautiful and perfect specimens. 

 The unerring accuracy of their flight filled me with 

 wonder on every occasion, and I was glad to pay for 

 the exhibition by the loss of a specimen. Once, how- 

 ever, I was even more astonished, when I witnessed 

 the lucky escape of a hunte'i butterfly. On this 

 occasion it was no Pierid, but a i,'reat Caligo, which I 

 had aroused and which one of these highwaymen 



