BIRDS IN WHITE 43 



the temperate zones or in the Tropics. That coloured 

 species occur in the Arctic regions and white species 

 in the Tropics is conclusive proof that in those par- 

 ticular cases, at any rate, it is not of paramount im- 

 portance to the species that they be protectively 

 coloured. 



Finn and I have shown in The Making of Species 

 that the ice-bound Arctic and Antarctic regions are not 

 inhabited, as popular works on zoology would have 

 us believe, by a snow-white fauna. We have shown 

 that in the Polar countries the coloured species of 

 birds outnumber the white species. I will, therefore, 

 not dilate further upon this subject. It will suffice 

 to repeat that in the area of eternal snow the white 

 forms are at an advantage in the struggle for existence, 

 as their whiteness tends to render them difficult to 

 see, while, in regions where snow is unknown, such 

 organisms labour under a disadvantage because of 

 their conspicuousness, and, other things being equal, 

 they ought not to be able to hold their own against 

 less showy rivals. 



The fact that white birds exist in the plains of India 

 must mean that their colour is not a matter of great 

 importance, that a conspicuous organism can survive 

 in the fight for life provided it be otherwise well 

 equipped for the contest. From this it follows that 

 it is incorrect to speak of the whiteness of such organ- 

 isms as the direct product of natural selection. 



Let us take a brief survey of those birds of India 

 of which the plumage is largely white, and try to 

 discover how it is that each of them is able to hold its 



