ix] THE ENEMIES OF BUTTERFLIES 117 



species as feeding upon Danaines under natural con- 

 ditions (cf. p. 111). 



A few further experiments with the birds of this 

 region were carried out by Manders 1 in Ceylon. The 

 results are perhaps to be preferred to Finn's, as the 

 birds were at liberty. Manders found that the Brown 

 Shrike (Lanius cristatus) would take butterflies which 

 were pinned to a paling. In this way it made off with 

 the mimetic females of Hypolimnas bolina and H. 

 misippus, as well as with Danais chrysippus and 

 Acraea violae which were successively offered to it. 

 Evidently this species had no repugnance to unpalat- 

 able forms. Manders also found that a young Mynah 

 allowed complete liberty in a large garden would eat 

 such forms as Acraea violae and Papilio hector. As the 

 result of his experience Manders considers that the 

 unpalatability of butterflies exhibiting warning color- 

 ation has been assumed on insufficient data, and he is 

 further inclined to doubt whether future investigations 

 will reveal any marked preference in those birds which 

 are mainly instrumental in the destruction of butter- 

 flies. 



A few experiments on feeding birds with South 

 African butterflies are recorded by Marshall. A young 

 Kestrel (Cerchneis naumanni) was fed from time to 

 time with various species of butterflies. In most 

 cases the butterflies offered were eaten even when they 

 were species of Acraea. On the other hand Danais 

 chrysippus was generally rejected after being partly 



1 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1911. 



\ 





