286 MIMICRY AND NATURAL SELECTION 



These bee-eaters were often seen catching Pierinae; 

 in fact, it seems to have occurred so often that I ceased 

 to record the fact, for I can only find this one reference. 

 Probably the attacks were always witnessed at the begin- 

 ning of the N.E. monsoons during the time of the heavy 

 rains, i.e. September to December. 



I am not certain as to the date on which I saw 

 the Ashy swallow-shrike (Artamus fuscus) catching 

 specimens of the Euploea, Crastia core. The fact is 

 associated in my mind with a particular place, and with 

 the capture of Charaxes psaphon $ there. This is recorded 

 for April 12, 1891, so this may be the correct date on 

 which I watched the bird. At least six specimens of the 

 Crastia were captured by the shrike, all of which it carried 

 away to a branch high up in a big tree, but I could not 

 see whether they were eaten. 



As regards my experience of birds catching butterflies, 

 it appears to have occurred more frequently in damp 

 than in dry districts ; e.g. it was frequent in Ceylon, rare 

 in places with moderate or small rainfall, such as Camp- 

 bellpore, Poona, and Aden. 



In my opinion an all-sufficient reason for the rarity of 

 the occurrence exists in the fact that in butterflies the 

 edible matter is a minimum, while the inedible wings, 

 &c, are a maximum. 



[See Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887, p. 210, where Lepidoptera 

 and especially butterflies are spoken of in almost exactly 

 these terms, as a suggested explanation of the fact that 

 lizards, although they eat them, greatly prefer flies or 

 cryptic larvae. — E. B. P.] 



14. Records of Attacks on Butterflies, &c, by wild 

 Burmese Birds, by Colonel C. T. Bingham. 



[Colonel Bingham has kindly sent me the following 

 extracts from his 1878 diaries, for incorporation in the 

 present memoir. — E. B. P.] 



'April 23. Marched from Kawkaraik to Thinganyina- 

 ung, fourteen miles. Started about 7.45, rather late as 

 there was some difficulty in collecting the elephants this 

 morning. . . . The road, a mere jungle path, followed 



