The Body of a Bird 299 



The relation of a bird's colours to its haunts and its 

 habits of life is a subject of intense interest. This is, 

 of course, not in the same category as the subjects of the 

 foregoing paragraphs, but indeed includes them all. The 

 most common class of colours is known as protective. 

 These are such that the bird resembles its environment 

 or surroundings and is thus given a better chance of escap- 

 ing the observation of its enemies. It is evident that, 

 in a study of this nature, observation of the bird in its 

 natural haunts is of far greater value than any other 

 method. 



We find that the majority of sparrows, sandpipers, 

 and quail are gray or brown, like the grasses, sedges, and 

 leaves among which they live; while the birds which 

 spend their lives higher up among the branches of trees 

 are greenish, or at least more brightly coloured. 



Many birds which are protectively coloured are dark 

 above and white or whitish beneath. The significance 

 of this pattern of coloration has been beautifully demon- 

 strated by an American artist, Mr. Abbott Thayer. His 

 experiment, which is as follows, may be repeated by any 

 one: Take two wooden decoy ducks, and place them 

 against a sand-bank. Colour one the exact tint of the 

 sand, or even coat it wdth that substance. Repeat this 

 with the upper parts of the second decoy, makmg its 

 back darker than the surroundmg sand, but grade the 

 under part of this one to pure white below. At a little 

 distance away, decoy number one will still be distinctly 

 seen; while number two will absolutely disappear, merg- 

 ing perfectly into its background. The reason for this is 



