MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 851 



doubt if there is one large enough to tackle Danainoe or Hypolimnas in the 

 Ootacamund region. 



One would not be surprised to find an occasional Danais or Euplcea 

 sampled by a bird, but to see evidence of a systematic onslaught on 

 butterflies which are so universally looked upon as leaders of the army of 

 distasteful insects, and which are so widely mimicked by numerous 

 " unprotected " butterflies and moths, tends to make one rather sceptical of 

 the accepted theories founded on the alleged value of this distastefulness. 

 It is true that they may disagree with other birds, lizards, etc., but if one 

 enemy alone can effect such wholesale destruction upon them, their immu- 

 nity from death by violence is so seriously impaired that it seems to me 

 that their numerous imitators amongst the " swallowtails," etc., are simply 

 asking for trouble. 



There was no lack of other food for the drongos, and it can only be as- 

 sumed that they found the Danaince very much to their taste. One can 

 hardly think of a morsel more apparently unpalatable than Telchinia violce 

 yet I saw a bulbul feed its young with one within a few feet of me. It 

 would be interesting if members of the Society would give any evidence in 

 the matter which they can. I have seen the wings of Hypolimnas misippus 

 sometimes scattered on the roads near trees in considerable numbers, and 

 on two occasions I have ]seen the wings of Charaxes imna ; this I imagine 

 was not caught on the wing ; if so, I must congratulate the bird on its 

 powers of flight. 



H. LESLIE ANDREWES. 



Barwood Estate, Nilgiris, 20th October 1910. 



No. VI.— THE SPOTTED-WING (PSABOGLOSSA SPILOPTERA). 



Blanford states {Fauna of British, India, Birds, Vol. I, p. 248), " the 

 Genus Psaroylossa contains one bird which has been universally consider- 

 ed a starling, but in my opinion erroneously so. Neither its structure, its 

 habits nor the colour of its eggs show any affinities to the SturnidiB." 



My experience may be interesting, as it tends to confirm the view that 

 the Spotted-wing is a starling in its habits and general appearance. 



In March 1910 flights of birds which I took to be Pastor roseus could be 

 seen every evening. I did not take much notice of them as I had quite 

 made up my mind that the rose-coloured starling was passing through on 

 migration. Every evening some 400 to 500 birds could be seen at 

 dusk flying exactly like P. roseus. They settled in the tun trees in the 

 next compound. Every morning at dawn parties of 10 to 15 would pass 

 overhead flying west. I generally saw them therefore too late at night or 

 too early in the morning to be able to see what species they were. But 

 from their flight and general form I was certain that they were P. roseus. 



