254 MR. C. F. M. SWYNNERTON ON THE 



bill on it. On its being reoffered she ignored it. She then took but simply- 

 dropped Papilio lycPMS, also, twice in succession, Charaoces hrutus, ignored on 

 re -presentation the P. lyceus, the E. ?^eop7^ro?^(head,&c.), and a Henotesia perspicua, 

 ignored for sometime Atella phalantha but finally took it listlessly in the point of 

 her bill and dropped it, refused for a time a Precis cebi-ene but finally after a lot of 

 coaxing accepted and ate it, accepted and thoroughly crushed the Eup)hcedra head 

 and thorax and kept it in her bill for a considei-able time as she did so, but in the 

 end threw them away uneaten, and on my wife's reoffering them accepted but 

 tossed them aside — they had now in any case been reduced to pulp — refused Neptis 

 saclava, clapping her bill and shaking her head in sign of strong unwillingness, and 

 ignored Papilio lyceus and Charaxes brutus. A few minutes later she repeatedly 

 refused or accepted and threw aside Charaxes hrutus. 

 [Summary : — 



(1) Refused Terias, ate (up to the few minutes' interval occupied in coaxing) 

 5 E. dryope, 4 E. hiarhas, 3 N. saclava^ 1 N. goochi, 1 P. cebrene, 1 Byblia, 

 3 L. thalassina, 1 P. lyaius, 2 H. perspicua, 1 Satyrine, 1 Tagiades flesus, 1 other 

 skipper. 



(2) Refused meat (sp. ?), ate all the above except 1 E. dryope, 1 E. hiarbas, 

 1 N. saclava, and 1 piece of meat 



(3) After the interval she refused N. saclava, ate Charaxes sp., most of E. neo- 

 phron, and a P. cebrene. 



(4) Grades : 



L. thalassina, E. hiarbas, f 1. Charaxes sp., E. neophron, and probably P. cebrene^ 

 -E'.fZryope, and probably I 2. N. saclava (if unstimulated), yellow skipper, and, 

 iY. goochi. I on manner, a P. lyceus. 



3. Meat and Terias. 



(.5) The roller was probably overpersuaded in the matter of the Byblia and 

 N. saclava, for turning her back was her final and most emphatic form of refusal, 

 reserved usually for importunity that had already become irksome. The eating of 

 the two insects above their grade would probably have inhibited appetite and 

 would thus account for the refusal so soon of a Charaxes. That the Euphcedra 

 was, nevertheless, then eaten showed that its first impression on the roller was a 

 very highly favourable one, and that the bird was later evidently much tempted to 

 eat the rest of it at a time when she ate P. cebrene only under persuasion suggests 

 that she in no way regretted her previous acceptance of it. It seemed to be 

 preferred to Charaxes brutus^ 



Exp. 35. — June 5. Hungry, was given two very large hard Acridians {Acridi%im 

 lineaUim, Stoll), battered and ate them readily enough, and after them a wingless 

 Precis cebrene, accepted equally readily a wingless Neptis saclava, but on tasting it 

 at once threw it away, ate a Charaxes briitus natalensis and a Charaxes candiope, 

 crushed and dropped an Atella phalantha, refused but after coaxing accepted and 

 ate a Precis cebrene, refused without tasting an Atella phalantha, and crushed and 

 tossed aside a second Precis cebrene. 



[Those huge Acridians were probably very filling. Often given to this and other 



