836 MR. R. I. POCOCK ON THE 



Taken in the hand, but put uown untasted and unhurt by 

 Grey Lemur. 



Taken and eaten at once by : — Silver Pheasant, Oartagenian 

 Motmot, Fantailed Flycatcher, two Dial Birds, Shama, Black- 

 chinned Laughing Thrush, two White-crested Jay-Thrushes, 

 Black-winged Grackle, Chinese Mynah, Brazilian Hatignest, and 

 Shrike. 



The Shrike was too shy to take the specimen from my fingers, 

 so I threw it towards him on the sand, not seeing exactly whei'e 

 it fell. He, however, saw the direction of the falling insect, and 

 hopped towards it, bvit somewhat to my surprise — for birds 

 seldom lose sight of thrown food — did not pick it up but looked 

 as if inquiringly up at me. After a little search I found the 

 small Stick Insect on the sand lying still with legs extended, and 

 looking exactly like a blade of green grass. When I stirred it 

 up and made it crawl, the Shrike was on to it in a moment ; and 

 I have no doubt that he missed it in the first instance owing to 

 its resembla.nce to the gi-ass blade. 



I observed that several of the birds looked inquiringly, as I 

 should describe it, at the Stick Insects before taking them. One 

 in particular, the Harmonious Shrike-Thrush, usually one of the 

 keenest insect-eaters in the Gardens, hesitated on two occasions 

 so long before making up his mind to touch them that he was 

 promptly robbed of his piey, once by a Dial Bird and once by 

 the Black-chinned Laughing Thrush. 



Two birds took them directly, but instead of eating them, 

 hopped about with them in their beaks. One of these, the Green 

 Hangnest, was deprived of his by a Chinese Mynah, which took 

 it from him through the partition bars of the next aviary ; the 

 other, a Gi'ey Stfuthidea, was similai/ly robbed by a White-crested 

 Jay-Thrush after a Collared Jay-Thrush had made several 

 attempts to get it from him. 



Order COLEOPTERA. 



Group Geodephaga, 



The species of this group used for the test belonged to the 

 Carabidse, a family of carnivorous ground-beetles with an 

 exceedingly hard exoskeleton. Carahtis inolaceus is black with 

 blue reflections ; the species of Pterostickus are dead black and 

 shine like pitch. Hariycdus has pubescent elytra and is a little 

 less conspicuous. 



Cccrabios violaceits. 



July 31, 1909. One rejected, after being smelt by three Meer- 

 kats, two Banded Mongooses, and one White-tailed Mongoose. 

 The latter behaved towards it exactly as he did towards the 

 Ocupus olens (see p. 838). 



