Revision of British Mollasca. 327 witli it In a state of nature, and that the bu-J of all others which would be most likelj to come across it was the very one which showed no fear of it, but devoured it with avidity, the protective character of the caterpillar, consisting chiefly in its violent contrasts of colour (for the one experimented with never exserted its tentacles, even when violently pecked), ceases to be of any very great advantage to it. On the 25th August I obtained larvte of Spilarctia luhri-cepeda^ which one of my Blackbirds ate directly they were thrown into his cage*. My experiments this year have convinced me that the tastes of birds not only differ in individuals of the same species, but that the same individuals in consecutive years vary as to their likes and dislikes ; in the second place they have confirmed the opinion, based upon previous experiments, which I expressed in ray last paper, viz. that no insectivorous bird has the least fear of the largest British spider (doubtless if one offered a Mygale to a Waxbill or Goldcrest the bird would be alarmed) ; thirdly that, as already shown, the imago of Abraxas grossulariata is far from being distasteful, although the larva is distinctly so to many, if not to all, insect-eaters j lastly, that caterpillars and birds do not share with human beings the notion that the line of beauty is terrifying when seen in a large moth-larva. If a caterpillar gets a dig in the back from the beak of a bird it doubles up just as a human being would from a blow on the opposite side of his body ; it does not do it to terrify the bird, but simply because it is in pain. XXXIX. — Revision of British Mollusca. By the Rev. Canon A. M. Norman, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. [Continued from p. 91.] Order IV. P U L M N A T A. It is only in a few cases that I have thought it necessary to make observations on the species of Land and Freshwater Mollusca, nor have I, with few exceptions, given the varieties. These will be found in ' British Conchology ; ' and very much has been written since on the subject in the ' Journal of Conchology,' to which journal it is only requisite to refer those who are interested in the subject. * This larva lias since been eaten with satisfaction by a Chaffincb.
BioStor
