No. 390. ] SECURING INSECTS FROM BIRDS. 479 
should not, in spite of their not being preferred by birds, have 
called them distasteful. In my own experiments I have found 
that certain beetles are avoided to such an extent that birds 
will not touch them even when they are very hungry. Laying 
aside this quibble of the degree of distastefulness, it is clear 
that the lack of preference, however slight, is all that is re- 
quired by the theory of protective coloration. 
It would be exceedingly interesting to know to what extent 
the species of birds which Mr. Finn experimented with, feed 
upon butterflies when at liberty. I know of no native species 
of birds in the United States which habitually prey upon but- 
terflies. 
In the Linnean Society’s journal, Zodlogy, Vol. XX VI, there 
is an article entitled “ Natural Selection the Cause of Mimetic 
Resemblance and Common Warning Colours,’ by Professor 
Edward B. Poulton. The scope and aims of this masterly 
paper are so entirely different from those of my little contribu- 
tion that I will not discuss it here. I have experimented in 
feeding butterflies to birds just enough to become confused. 
My song sparrow ate a Papilio turnus; a blue jay found a Coltas 
philodice distasteful ; while catbirds relished Vanessa antiopa. 
In spite of these experiments I must conclude, from the exam- 
ination of stomach contents and field work, that butterflies are 
comparatively immune from the attacks of birds of the eastern 
United States. 
Caddice flies are supposed to mimic small moths for protec- 
tion, but they, nevertheless, are eaten by many birds, even 
when plenty of other insects are obtainable. 
In the Diptera and Hymenoptera we have such swift-flying 
insects that birds have great difficulty in catching them. The 
Muscide are relished by most birds, but only the flycatchers 
and swallows are swift enough to catch them. The kingbird 
eats the Eristalis fly that mimics the honey-bee and also other 
mimicking Syrphus flies. 
The parasitic Hymenoptera (Ichneumonids) are said to mimic 
the stinging ones, but they are eaten by many birds. It has 
also been supposed that many of our flower-infesting Ceram- 
bycid beetles mimic. Scoliid wasps. However this may be, the 
