THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 21 



in the following passage from Dr. L. Robinson's "Wild 

 Traits in Tame Animals," which refers to a scene in 

 Greenwich Park : — 



" The dappled fallow-deer were grazing among the 

 chestnut-trees or lying down upon the soft grass. I sat 

 down on a seat to watch them, determined, if possible, 

 to learn something fresh from them before I moved from 

 the spot. One could not help noticing how remarkably 

 their mottled skins, angular outlines, and branching horns 

 fitted them for concealment in the glades of the forest. 

 Even here, where the surroundings were to a large extent 

 artificial, every now and then the eye would suddenly 

 chance upon a deer resting among the chequered shadows, 

 which was so inconspicuous that it had previously escaped 

 notice." "* 



Assuming, then, that the object of the dappled coat is to 

 harmonise with the splashes of sunlight and shade beneath 

 forest trees in summer, it is perfectly obvious that in tem- 

 perate latitudes such a type of coloration would be quite out 

 of place in winter, when the forest trees have shed their 

 leaves. Accordingly the fallow-deer exchanges its dappled 

 summer livery for a uniform coat of fawn more in harmony 

 with the sombre colour prevalent in nature generally during 

 the northern winter. A precisely similar change takes place 

 in the Japanese deer and its relative, the Peking deer of 

 Manchuria, both of which have bright chestnut coats dappled 

 with large white spots in summer, while in winter they 

 are clothed in sombre brown. It is, moreover, noticeable 

 that in the Peking deer the summer coat is exchanged 

 for the winter dress comparatively early in the season — 

 doubtless in correlation with the early advent of winter 

 in its native habitat. 



The Japanese and Peking deer have, however, a repre- 



