148 BIRDS AND MAN 



of different shades — it is a pity that we cannot 

 find, or have not found, a better word than " shades " 

 for the specific differences of a colour. There is 

 the so-called tow, the tawny, the bronze, the simple 

 yellow, and the golden, which includes many 

 varieties, and the hair called carroty. But none 

 of these has the flower yellow. Richard Jefferies 

 tells us that when he placed a sovereign by the 

 side of a dandelion he saw how unlike the two 

 colours were — that, in fact, no two colours could 

 seem more unlike than the yellow of gold and the 

 yellow of the flower. It is not necessary to set a 

 lock of hair and any yellow flower side by side to 

 know how utterly different the hues are. The 

 yellow of the hair is like that of metals, of clay, 

 of stone, and of various earthy substances, and 

 like the fur of some mammals, and like xanthophyll 

 in leaf and stalk, and the yellow sometimes seen 

 in clouds. When Ossian, in his famous address 

 to the sun, speaks of his yellow hair floating on 

 the eastern clouds, we instantly feel the truth as 

 well as beauty of the simile. We admire the yellow 

 flower for the purity and brilliance of its colour, 

 just as we admire some bird notes solely for the 

 purity and brightness of the sound, however un- 

 like the human voice they may be. We also admire 



