VALIDITY OF SOME FORMS OF MIMICRY. 733 



The following extract is of much interest ; it is from the ' Spolia 

 Zeylanica,' 1910: — 



" Bee-eaters as Fish-eaters. 



" There are a pair of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters {Merops 

 sioinhoei), which nest pi'etty regularly in a steep bank on a road 

 below my bungalow, and about 150 yards distant from my pond. 

 Almost any bright afternoon, between 2 and 3 p.m., they may be 

 seen fishing in the pond. They come down from a dead tree, 

 which stands on a knoll some 50 yards away ; sometimes hovering 

 for a moment over the water to locate their prey, but more 

 commonly marking it in their swoop, and dashing headlong into 

 the water like a kingfisher and ver}^ rarely missing their fish. I 

 have seen the pair account for a dozen fish in as many minutes ; 

 all quite small fry. 



" When there is a flight of white butterflies on, these birds 

 devote most of their attention to them throughout the day, but 

 on warm bright days nearly always have a go at fishing in the 

 afternoon. 



" I have always hitherto associated Bee-eaters with the one diet 

 of insects ; and 1 could not quite trust the accuracy of my eyesight 

 until I brought a strong pair of field-glasses to bear on the actors 

 at the short range of 15 to 20 yards. I think it probable that 

 many so-called insectivorous birds change their diet when some 

 chance has put them up to the taste of a new article which 

 happens to suit them. . . 



" Since the pair, which I convicted of fishing, hatched out their 

 young, they have abandoned their fishing expeditions and may be 

 seen sitting on the tree facing their burrows catching insects 

 (chiefly wliite butterflies) to feed their nestlings. 



E. Gordon Reeves." 



Wiltshire, Matale, May 7, 1910. 



9. The White-hreasied Kingfisher and Butterflies. 



I have often seen this bird eating grasshoppers, and on one 

 occasion a butterfly which I was too far off to identify. Small 

 frogs and lizards, some of the latter of quite a respectable size, I 

 have also seen taken. Dr. Willey writes, " I remember being- 

 much surprised, many years ago, to find a Kingfisher's stomach 

 full of insect remains." With such a mixed dietary its taste 

 for butterflies is probably impartial. 



Sparroivs and Bitttejflies. 



Mr. R. D. Hodgins writes: — " April 1911. These birds have 

 built their nests about my bungalow here at Matale, so I have 

 plenty of opportunity of watching them. I have on three 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1911, No. LI. 51 



