THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 25 



red-deer — it seems to be certainly analogous to the change 

 from a spotted to a uniform coat in the Japanese and fallow- 

 deer, and must therefore be for the purpose of protection. 

 Prima facie, it might have been thought that the winter 

 dress would be red, since this tint would apparently har- 

 monise well with the russet hue of fallen leaves and dead 

 bracken^ The tone of the summer dress is, however, very 

 similar to the ground-colour of the coat of the Peking and 

 Japanese deer at the same season, although we have yet 

 to learn why a uniformly red tint is more advantageous 

 in the case of the roe and the white-tail than a spotted 

 dress. Possibly it may be owing to the more open nature 

 of the country frequented by these and other species in 

 which this type of coloration prevails. 



That the change in the roe, the red-deer, and the white- 

 tailed deer from red in summer to grey in winter is 

 analogous to the change from a spotted to a uniform coat 

 in the Peking deer and the fallow-deer, is demonstrated 

 not only by the nature of the colour itself, but more 

 emphatically by the circumstance that in tropical and 

 subtropical countries red-coated deer, such as the Indian 

 muntjac and swamp-deer, or barasingha, retain their colour 

 throughout the year. A similar condition is noticeable 

 in the case of the small tropical representatives of the 

 Virginian white-tailed deer, most or all of which do not 

 change their colour with the season. In the last-men- 

 tioned instance it appears, indeed, that the coat is brownish 

 or greyish, instead of red ; but this may be connected with 

 the tendency to melanism, so often noticeable in the case 

 of animals inhabiting moist tropical forests. Be this as 

 it may, it is quite clear that the change from a red 

 summer coat to a grey winter dress in species like the 

 while-tail and the roe is for the purpose of protection, 



