i>ACKAiu>.] INSECTS AS MIMICS. 257 



10, In8t3cts as mimics, 



MAN, especially in his savage state, is as a rule obliged 

 to vesoit to various subterfuges to provide himself 

 with animal food. The hunter tracks his quarry 

 through the woods, his dress of hides, or his naked skin 

 harmonizing with the dusky hues of the forest ; his step is 

 wary and light, his weapons are noiseless, the deer falling 

 dead from his arrow, the bird from his blow gun without 

 startling their fellows ; or he hunts them by traps, from 

 behind screens or while hidden by the foliage of trees. At 

 times he disguises himself, and stalks the deer dressed in 

 the head and skin of one of their o\vn kind. He mimics 

 their voices, calling the moose by means of a birch bark 

 horn, and whistling to the woodcock or snipe. 



The civilized sportsman, if he would be successful in the 

 chase, adapts his hunting suit to the colors of the field or 

 woodland, wearing gray or green, some color harmonizing 

 with the landscai)e through which he ranges. Even his 

 pointers or setters are protected, by their tan-brown hue. 

 lie makes decoy ducks, and tolls in a flock of ducks or geese 

 flying overhead or feediug off'-shore beyond the reach of his 

 gun. The fact that birds and quadrupeds are so easily 

 deceived is a good proof that the use of disguises among 

 animals in a state of nature is an actual fact. If some 

 birds can be deceived I)y clumsy, painted, wooden decoys, 

 others may mistake a caterpillar for a twig, a weevil for a 

 bud, or an edible butterfly mimicking one which they gen- 

 erally discard as too nauseous to their taste. 



All this mimicry on the part of man is conscious. What 

 is often necessary with man is still more essential with 

 animals. In the animal world there is an unconscious mim- 

 17 1 



