716 LT.-COL. X. MAXDERS OX THE 



butterflj'-eating propensity, but Mr. Frank Finn experimented with 

 an Indian i^peciefi {Crateropns ccmorus), and came to the conckision 

 that they distinguished in time betAveen a tasty and distasteful 

 butterfly. The note I made at the time I studied his experiments 

 is as follows : — It is evident that they had no notion at fir-st as to 

 what was palatable and what was unpalatable, but as the experi- 

 ments proceeded they learnt gradually to discriminate I 



conclude that as these birds with one exception were adult when 

 captured, they could not have undertaken tasting experiments 

 when young, otherwise they would have recognized a distasteful 

 species. 



Subfani. Brachypterygin^e. 



9. The Indian Blue-Chat. Larvivora hnmnea. A migrant. 

 " Appears to feed entirely on the ground." (Oates.) 



10. The Ceylon Ai"renga. Arrenga hlighi. Indigenous. 



" The food consists of various insects and in the stomach of my 

 specimen I detected the bones of a frog." Mr. Oswin Wickwar 

 tells me that he found a species of snake, Aspidura sp., quite four 

 inches long in the stomach of the bird shot by him. 



11. The Ceylon Short- wing. Elaphrornispalliseri. Indigenous. 

 " Found in thick brushwood feeding on the ground." {Oates.) 



" It feeds on ants and other minute insects and to some extent 

 on small seeds." 



12. The Indian White-eye. Zosterops palpehrosa. 



13. The Ceylon White-eye. Zosterops ceylonensis. 



These species have the same habits as those in Bourbon and 

 Mauritius. 



Subfam. LioTRiCHix^. 



14. The Fairy Blue-bird. Irena puella. 

 " It feeds principally on fruit." {Oates.) 



15. Jerdon's Chloropsis. Chloropsis jerdoni. 



" Seeds may often be found in its stomacii, though they are not 

 so generally partaken of as insects." 



16. The Malabar Chloropsis. C. malaharica. 



" Lives on fruit and insects, chiefly the latter." 



17. The Common lora. uEgithina tiphia. 



" I have occasionally seen it dart out and seize a passing moth 

 or butterfly on the wing and alighting again swallow it whole, a 

 habit which is testified to by the lar-ge Mantidse and other winged 

 insects which are often found in its small stomach." " Frequents 



orchards feeding on insects which it finds among the 



leaves." {Oates.) 



