740 LT.-COL, N. MANDBRS ON THE 



During this month (November 1910) I have been breeding 

 Hypolimoias misipjnis freely, and the Magpie Robins come every 

 morning on the chance of getting one. I have tried them with both 

 males and females, crippled and perfect, and always with the same 

 result. They are immediately seized, well beaten, and swallowed 

 after considerable difficulty. I noticed on one occasion a perfect 

 female resting on the ground with wings widely expanded but 

 insufficiently strong to fly ; the resemblance to D. chrysippus was 

 perfect, but the Robin seized it without hesitation. 



One day the large Hill Crow — an occasional visitant — carried 

 off a crippled male with wings quite undeveloped ; it pecked at it 

 twice and then dropped it, shaking its head with every appearance 

 of disgust. I remembered that the insect had fallen into and was 

 well covered with the red liquid these buttei-flies always evacuate 

 on emergence, and thinking that this was the cause of the Crow's 

 discomfiture, I covered a crippled female with the stuff and threw 

 it on the ground : a Magpie Robin soon came and saw it, and 

 shook its head once or twice after pecking at it, but it swallowed 

 it in a short time. 



Mynah. Acridotheres tristis. 



This bird belonged to Mr. 0. Wickwar, F.E.S., who kindly 

 assisted me. The bird was quite young and was allowed perfect 

 liberty in a large garden, where it fed freely on grasshoppers 

 and other insects ; it had abundant insect food, and was also 

 accustomed to fill up its dietary by visits to the kitchen for 

 odd scraps. I have placed in brackets the presumed palatability 

 or otherwise of the species experimented on. 



3.1.09. Given Euplcea core (unpalatable), took it readily, but the 

 wings seemed to bother it considerably, so gave it another with 

 its wings shortened, this it ate readily enough and then went 

 back and finished off the first one. We then gave it Papilio lanhe- 

 sioara (palatable ?) which was also I'eadily eaten. Half an hour 

 after gave Papilio {Menelaides) hector (unpalatable) ; this puzzled 

 it for a bit and it seemed disinclined to eat it, evidently on 

 account of the large wings, for when these were removed it ate 

 the body with relish, even hopping off the veranda after it when it 

 fell over the edge. A couple of Telchinia violce (unpalatable) (an 

 Acrseine) ^ and $ followed, and then Hypolimnas holina § (un- 

 palatable ?) and Delias eucharis (unpalatable) ; all these received a 

 pinch on the head, were well pounded, wings partially removed, 

 and the remainder eaten. 



24.1.09. The bird had been kept without food for some time 

 and was decidedly hungry. 3 P. hector, 1 T. violce, 1 Mycalesis 

 ceylonica (palatable ?), and 1 Polyommatus boetica (palatable ?) 

 were put in a row outside the cage ; when this was opened the bird 

 hopped over them and made straight for the kitchen, where it was 

 accustomed to pick up odds and ends. After some persuasion it 

 ate 1 P. hcetica and 1 Lyccena [Zesius) chrysomelhis $ . Some 

 three hours afterwards it ate 1 Precis almana (unpalatable), 



