BIRDS IN WHITE 47 



Further, whiteness of feather seems to be correlated 

 in some way with the power to resist cold and damp. 



It should be noted that not one of the larger fruit- 

 eating birds is white. The reason of this would seem 

 to be that in the case of non-aquatic birds such white 

 species possess no advantage in the struggle for ex- 

 istence, but, on the contrary, the whiteness of their 

 plumage is perhaps correlated with weakness of 

 constitution. This, of course, is a heavier handicap to 

 a large bird than being conspicuous is. 



The correlation or interdependence of various 

 characteristics and organs is a subject full of interest, 

 but one which has hitherto attracted comparatively 

 little attention. Close study of this phenomenon may 

 eventually revolutionise zoological thought. Whether 

 this surmise prove right or wrong, one thing is certain, 

 and that is there is more in the philosophy of white- 

 ness than the old-fashioned evolutionist dreams of. 



