32 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



difficult this disguise is to detect, has been told 

 of the little bittern of Argentina, by Mr Hudson, 

 as only Mr Hudson can tell it. The story is too 

 long to be reproduced here, but my readers may 

 turn with profit to the original. 



We have yet another kind of protective coloura- 

 tion which is truly remarkable. It is of the 

 kind known as "mimicry." In cases of "mimi- 

 cry" the bird does not resemble surrounding 

 inanimate objects, but some other bird, and that 

 bird either one that is much feared and dreaded, 

 or regarded with indifference. It is not only a 

 case of the wolf in sheep's clothing, but also of 

 the sheep in the wolf's. The latter case, indeed, 

 is a realisation of the ass in the lion's skin. 



Let us take a few examples. In Central 

 America there lives a bird of prey known as the 

 caracara or curassow hawk, which so closely re- 

 sembles a curassow, one of the game-birds of that 

 region, as to deceive experienced sportsmen, 

 who shoot the bird for the purpose of providing 

 food, only to find it a carrion-eater. This re- 

 semblance is of a distinct advantage to the haAvk. 

 He is enabled thereby to capture his prey with 

 ease, since the victim, mistaking its enemy for 

 the guileless game-bird, allows the approach of 

 the hawk to within easy striking distance, with- 

 out entertaining a suspicion of danger so close at 

 hand. 



The hawk-cuckoos of India and Africa afford 

 us an illustration of the opposite form of mimi- 

 cry. These birds very closely resemble the 

 sparrow-hawks of the locality ; similarly, our 

 English cuckoo resembles our native sparrow 



