lvi. Proceedings. 
nature. But the particular colour which any particular animal 
possesses, is the result of an infinite variety of secondary 
causes which render certain colours useful and other colours. 
hurtful to the animal. In birds, and in some other animals, 
the brilliant colouring of the males is usually most intense in 
the breeding season, when the animal is in the fullest vigour.. 
But the one thing of all others which most affects the develop- 
ment of colour is the need of protection or concealment. 
Almost all animals need concealment because they have 
enemies, and those which are too powerful to fear any enemies 
still need concealment to enable them to catch their prey. If 
there were no need for protection and concealment, the beauti- 
ful colours of tropical birds, instead of being exceptional, 
would probably be the rule, and there would be brilliant colours 
throughout nature. The large Felidce afford good instances 
of the advantages to animals of particular colouring. The 
Ounce for instance, which passes much of its time in trees, is 
spotted, and for this reason cannot be easily seen amongst the 
foliage of trees. The Tiger, on the other hand, which lives 
mostly in jungle and tall grass, and is never seen in trees, is 
striped, and so nearly resembles the grass and jungle in colour, 
that in it it is quite invisible at a short distance. Ina similar 
way animals that frequent trees of different kinds do not 
acquire the colour of any tree in particular, whilst animals 
that frequent only one kind of tree, as a rule, acquire the 
colour of the tree which they frequent. The same law of con- 
cealment applies to birds. The bright colours of birds are 
principally on the breast, where they would not be seen when 
the birds are sitting on their nests or perched on trees, except 
from underneath. The reason why tropical birds have so 
much colour is that the vegetation is abundant and the forests. 
dense, and hence there is less need for concealment. It is 
supposed by a good many people that brilliancy of colour is 
due to the intensity of the sun, but that is a mistake, because 
in the desert, where the sun is strongest, animals, as a rule, 
are of the colour of the sand. Mr. Wallace further disputed 
the theory that brilliancy of colour depends on rapidity of 
motion, remarking that wings of birds have generally little 
brilliancy of colour in them. 
Dr. Henry Woopwarp, F.R.S., supported the views ex- 
pressed by Mr. Wallace, and fully concurred in his opinion 
that the colour of animals was mainly determined by the 
necessity for concealment. In connection with this subject 
he mentioned that in Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton’s coverts in 
Norfolk, white varieties of the common Pheasant were en- 
couraged, and were, in consequence, rather numerous. The 
gamekeepers, however, did not like them, because, from their 
