286 MIMICRY AND NATURAL SELECTION 



These bee-eaters were often seen catching Pic)i}uic\ 

 in fact, it seems to have occurred so often that I ceased 

 to record the fact, for I can only {wmX this one reference. 

 Probably the attacks were always witnessed at the bei^in- 

 nin<; of the N.E. monsoons diirin^^ the time* o{ the heavy 

 rains, i.e. September to December. 



I am not certain as to the date on wliich I saw 

 the Ashy swallow-shrike {Ar/at)n(S /uscns) catching; 

 specimens of the Euj)loca, Cra^da core. The fact is 

 associated in my mind with a particular place, and with 

 the capture of C/mraxes psap/ion ? there. This is recorded 

 for April 12, 1891. so this may be the correct date on 

 which I watched the bird. At least six specimens of the 

 Crasfia were captured by the shrike, all of which it carried 

 away to a branch hi^h up in a big tree, but I could not 

 see whether they were eaten. 



As regards my experience of birds catching butterHics, 

 it appears to have occurred more frecpicntly in damp 

 than in dry districts; e.g. it was frequent in Ceylon, rare 

 in ])laces with moderate or small rainfall, such as Camp- 

 bellpore, Poona, and Aden. 



In my opinion an all-sufficient reason for the rarity of 

 the occurrence exists in the fact that in butterflies the 

 edible matter is a minimum, while the inedible wings, 

 &c.. are a maximum. 



\Sc<i Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887, p. 210. where Lepidoptera 

 and especially butterflies are spoken of in almost exactly 

 these terms, as a suggested explanation of the fact that 

 lizards, although they eat them, greatly prefer flies or 

 cryptic larvae. — E. P. P.] 



I.}. Ri.coRDs OF Attacks on Pittkkfi tp:s, &c., \\\ wuj) 

 Burmese Birds, by Colonel C. T. Bingham. 



[Colonel Bingham has kindly sent me the following 

 extracts from his 1878 diaries, for incorporation in the 

 present memoir. — E. B. P.] 



' Ap7'il 2'},. Marched from Kawkaraik to Thingan)'ina- 

 ung, fourteen miles. Started about 7.45, rather late as 

 there was some difficulty in collecting the elephants this 

 morning. . . . The road, a mere jungle path, followed 



