114 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



restless motion of the tail is most persistent during the 

 mating and nesting season, as excitement, anxiety, or 

 sudden emotion of any kind is at once shown by a 

 quickening of the strokes. 



It would seem, then, that the real value of the con- 

 spicuous marking is this. It enables the sexes to find 

 each other amidst the dingy surroundings they favour, 

 and is, therefore, of the same value to the species as are 

 the musk glands of various animals. Secondly, it is 

 there as a guiding beacon — it is a conspicuous mark for 

 the young to follow, assisted by its restless motions, 

 which reach their zenith in the case of an anxious mother. 



In '' Habits and Characters of British Wild Animals '* 

 I devoted some space to a theory my belief in which 

 becomes more and more strongly established — namely, 

 that certain birds and beasts and fishes exist mainly as 

 a natural food for others. Most of these unfortunate 

 creatures have some distinguishing feature — perhaps not 

 directly in their apparel, but possibly in their habits, 

 which are such that they are specially at the mercy of 

 their foes. The majority of them are polygamous, all 

 are good food, all possess great powers of survival. They 

 are essentially creatures of the chase. Among these in 

 the animal world we have the rabbit with his white tail. 

 True that this distinguishing mark is valuable to the 

 species in helping them to evade their foes, for unless 

 Nature were to some extent generous in this way she 

 would defeat her own aims by bringing about the exter- 

 mination of the species. We have the deer, the quarry 

 of noble hunters, and in this case Nature betrays the 

 species by their white rumps and by the towering antlers 

 of the males. The white rumps are of value in that 

 they enable deer to follow deer, fawn to follow hind, 

 through the dark thickets, but, alas ! they catch also the 

 eye of the hungry hunter ! The antlers of the stag are 



