618 ON THE ENEMIES OF BUITERFLIES. 



Ap7'il 23rcl. A drongo swooped at and probably took either a 

 Papilio polytes $ ])olytes or a P. aristolochice. 



April 2Uh. Mr. Pole of Maskeli ya * wrote that he saw two 

 large dragonflies take two Appias sp. ? and one F. polytes 6 - 



July 7tk (at Maha lUupalama). Noticed the remains of Danais 

 septenti-ioriis, Fapilio jason, Appias j)ct'ulina and A. alhina, killed 

 probably by Asilid flies (Scleropogon piceus and other species), as 

 the bodies were intact though empty. Asilid flies were twice 

 seen carrying Appias sp. ? <S . 



August Sth (at Maha Illnpalama). Caught an Asilid fly with a 

 medium-sized dragonfly f, which it was sucking through the eye, 

 and later saw another Asilid killing a large Cicada J which was 

 flying madly about, shrieking (stridulating) all the time. A 

 slight bite from an Asilid was most painful, and felt as if 

 poisonous matter had been injected. 



August I3th (at Maha Illnpalama). Noticed Asilid flies kill 

 Appias sp. ? c? and Papilio jason. 



August 28i/i (at Habarana, Maha Illnpalama District). An 

 Asilid attempted to kill the formidable Ceylon hornet, Vespa 

 cincta, which, however, escaped. 



August 3\st (at Trincomalee). A few Euploea wings were found 

 scattered about Fort Ostenburg ; they were probably dropped by 

 wood-swallows, which were hawking round the inner harbour. 



September \st (Trincomalee). On the Nilavelli-Kuchivelli road 

 bee-eaters were numerous. One was seen to catch an Appias sp., 

 and wings of Euplcea^ P. jason, and Appias spp. were occasionally 

 found on the ground. 



Septemher 7th (at Peradeniya). Released an Actias selene <S . 

 It flew fairly well, but was soon snapped up by a drongo, which, 

 before eating it, first pulled oflf the " tails " and then the rest of 

 the wings. 



The observations having now been given at length, it is 

 perhaps permissible to summarise the impressions gained in their 

 making : — 



i. Butterflies do not form any large percentage of the food 

 of the more common insectivorous birds in Ceylon. 



ii. With the exception of the Wood-Sw^allow, birds are by no 

 means clever in capturing butterflies. 



iii. The Wood-Swallow is the only bird which actually lives on 

 butterflies, and it almost always chooses butterflies of the 

 so-called nauseous genera Danais and Euploea ; it seemed, 

 however, that this preference was due to the difficulty of 

 catching faster-flying butterflies, and not to the superior 

 flavour of the Danais or Euplcea. 



* Hill district, elevation about 4000 feet. 



t This and one or two subsequent notes, though not dealing with butterflies, are 

 included, as they seem worthy of record and yet are insufficient for a separate 

 contribution. 



