﻿Mr. 
  S. 
  13. 
  J. 
  Skertchly 
  on 
  Butterflies' 
  Enemies. 
  477 
  

  

  LVTI. 
  — 
  On 
  Butterflies' 
  Enemies. 
  By 
  Sydney 
  B. 
  J. 
  

   Skertchly, 
  F.G.S., 
  M.A.I. 
  

  

  I. 
  Introduction. 
  

  

  The 
  following- 
  notes 
  arc 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  observations 
  in 
  the 
  

   forests 
  of 
  British 
  North 
  Borneo. 
  They 
  were 
  written 
  in 
  the 
  

   jungle 
  with 
  the 
  butterflies 
  about 
  me, 
  and, 
  I 
  think, 
  throw 
  a 
  

   little 
  new 
  light 
  on 
  the 
  questions 
  of 
  protective 
  resemblance 
  

   and 
  mimicry, 
  especially 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  hereditary 
  memory. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  W. 
  B. 
  Pryer, 
  in 
  his 
  notes 
  on 
  the 
  Rhopalocera 
  of 
  

   British 
  North 
  Borneo, 
  casts 
  a 
  doubt 
  on 
  certain 
  points 
  con- 
  

   nected 
  with 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  mimicry, 
  stating 
  that 
  during 
  twenty 
  

   years' 
  collecting 
  in 
  the 
  far 
  east 
  he 
  never 
  saw 
  a 
  butterfly 
  taken 
  

   by 
  a 
  bird 
  *. 
  Discussing 
  this 
  question 
  with 
  him 
  in 
  England 
  

   and 
  Borneo 
  I 
  was 
  led 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  matter 
  more 
  particularly, 
  

   and 
  as 
  my 
  work 
  takes 
  me 
  for 
  months 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  into 
  the 
  virgin 
  

   forest, 
  my 
  opportunities 
  have 
  been 
  unusually 
  great. 
  

  

  My 
  references 
  must 
  be 
  few, 
  as 
  my 
  library 
  is 
  necessarily 
  

   very 
  small; 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  hardly 
  a 
  drawback, 
  since 
  the 
  observa- 
  

   tions 
  are 
  original, 
  and 
  there 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  quite 
  enough 
  

   theorizing 
  from 
  published 
  data. 
  The 
  literature 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  

   is, 
  however, 
  quite 
  familiar 
  to 
  me. 
  

  

  IL 
  The 
  Evidence 
  as 
  it 
  exists. 
  

  

  That 
  mimicry 
  does 
  exist 
  probably 
  no 
  one 
  has 
  ever 
  doubted 
  

   since 
  Bates 
  first 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  phenomena. 
  The 
  

   explanation, 
  too, 
  proffered 
  at 
  the 
  time, 
  that 
  edible 
  species 
  

   copied 
  nauseous 
  morsels, 
  was 
  so 
  simple, 
  so 
  full, 
  so 
  entirely 
  

   explanatory 
  that, 
  like 
  Darwin's 
  theory 
  of 
  coral-reefs, 
  it 
  

   seemed 
  unassailable. 
  Indeed, 
  so 
  strong 
  was 
  this 
  feeling, 
  that 
  

   few 
  naturalists 
  ever 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  looked 
  for 
  facts 
  to 
  support 
  it. 
  

  

  Yet 
  how 
  meagre 
  the 
  evidence 
  is 
  ! 
  Surely 
  if 
  birds 
  are 
  in 
  

   the 
  habit 
  of 
  eating 
  butterflies 
  as 
  a 
  staple 
  article 
  of 
  food, 
  the 
  

   fact 
  would 
  be 
  patent 
  to 
  every 
  ornithologist 
  and 
  entomologist, 
  

   to 
  everyone 
  who 
  delights 
  in 
  the 
  beauties 
  of 
  nature. 
  Such 
  is 
  

   not 
  the 
  case, 
  and 
  even 
  Distant, 
  in 
  his 
  ' 
  lihopalocera 
  

   Malayana 
  ' 
  f, 
  can 
  only 
  cite 
  a 
  few 
  isolated 
  cases. 
  That 
  some 
  

   birds 
  frequently, 
  and 
  others 
  occasionally, 
  devour 
  butterflies 
  

   is 
  certain. 
  But 
  these 
  are 
  rare 
  exceptions, 
  and 
  not 
  the 
  rule. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Pryer's 
  remark 
  has 
  been 
  parallelled 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Scudder, 
  

  

  * 
  Ann. 
  & 
  Mag. 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Jan. 
  1887, 
  p. 
  44. 
  

   t 
  P. 
  109. 
  

   Ann. 
  & 
  Mag. 
  N. 
  Hist. 
  Ser. 
  6. 
  Vol. 
  iii. 
  33 
  

  

  